Temporal Coverage

Definition

Syntax

Group: Temporal_Coverage
   Start_Date: [yyyy-mm-dd]
   Stop_Date: [yyyy-mm-dd]
End_Group

Specifications

• May be repeated
• Years should be four-digits
• Month and day of month should be two digits, with leading zeroes if necessary
  • yyyy-mm-dd

Recommendations

• Stop Date should be omitted if data continue through the present.
• Start Date may be omitted if the starting time of data collection is completely unknown, as in a database where data had been collected over a long period of time or had been passed down to various authorities. The inclusion of a Stop Date without a Start Date implies that data were collected no recently than the Stop Date.
• For data collected on a single day, such as a satellite scene, Stop Date should be set equal to Start Date.
• For maps, the publication date should be entered in both Start Date and Stop Date. If the map is later updated, the new publication date is entered into the Stop Date.
• The repetition of this group is intended to indicate that there are gaps in the data coverage and that the coverage is not continuous. This field is not to be used to indicate the temporal resolution of the data set (see Data Resolution).
• When gaps are unreasonably numerous, the field should not be repeated.

Examples

Group: Temporal_Coverage
   Start_Date:  1988-11-26
   Stop_Date:  1994-02-15
End_Group

Group: Temporal_Coverage
   Start_Date:  1989-03-31
End_Group

Group: Temporal_Coverage
   Start_Date:  1997-06-30
   Start_Date:  1997-06-30
End_Group