Table 3.

Metadata types and selected variables. See Supplementary Tables SM2–SM7 for a full list of metadata with descriptions. Variables collected from or generated for all sites are in bold.

Metadata Type	Selected Metadata Variables
Site General Info (25 variables)	SITE_ID: Unique site identifier (CC-sss, where CC is the country code) SITE_NAME: Site name SITE_DESC: Site description LOCATION_LAT: Latitude of site LOCATION_LONG: Longitude of site FLUX_MEASUREMENTS_VARIABLE: Flux variables measured at the site IGBP: Vegetation type based on International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme classification UTC_OFFSET: Offset from UTC of site data TEAM_MEMBER_NAME: Team member name MAT, MAP: Mean annual temperature and precipitation TOWER_TYPE, TOWER_POWER: Type of tower and power type
DOI (12 variables)	DOI: Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the flux-met data product DOI_CONTRIBUTOR_NAME: Name of contributor to the development of data (and associated info) DOI_ORGANIZATION: Organization contributing to the data
Reference publications (4 variables)	REFERENCE_PAPER: Reference for understanding the site REFERENCE_DOI: DOI of the reference REFERENCE_USAGE: Suggested usage of the reference
Canopy Height (2 variables)	HEIGHTC: Canopy height. In a forest ecosystem, canopy height is the distribution of overstory trees that see light at the top of the canopy. Note: The reported value is representative of the mean of such a distribution. HEIGHTC_DATE: Date of canopy height observation
Variable Information (5 variables) Note: Variable Information groups are only reported for variables with data.	VAR_INFO_VARNAME: Variable name VAR_INFO_UNIT: Variable unit VAR_INFO_DATE: Start date for reported variable information VAR_INFO_HEIGHT: Height/depth of observation (meters) VAR_INFO_MODEL: Model(s) used to collect observation.