An early metadata initiative from the Earth sciences community, intended for the description of scientific data sets. It inlcudes elements focusing on instruments that capture data, temporal and spatial characteristics of the data, and projects with which the dataset is associated. It is defined as a W3C XML Schema.
Sponsored by the Global Change Master Directory, the DIF Writer's Guide Version 6 is from November 2010.
A widely-used, but no longer current standard defining the information content for a set of digital geospatial data required by the US Federal Government.
CSDGM was sponsored by the US Federal Geographic Data Committee. However, in September 2010 the FGDC endorsed ISO 19115 and began encouraging federal agencies to transition to ISO metadata.
This national facility for looking after and distributing data concerning the marine environment requires that data sets use a well-documented format such as CF-compliant NetCDF and be accompanied by a Dublin Core record as well as discovery metadata in a recognised standard such as DIF or FGDC/CDGM.
The world's largest climate data archive, providing climatological services and data worldwide. It currently promotes the FGDC/CSDGM metadata standard for its datasets.