Database Structure

One of the key benefits of working with a database is that it allows you to seemlessly host all of the data collected over the course of a project in a centralized place. Data is linked together using key identifying pieces of information, which allows meshing regardless of sample resolution, analytical method, or data type. Along with raw data, metadata can also be stored and linked. This allows researchers to call analytical run conditions and site sampling conditions at the same time as raw data.

The current links established between the Denali Ice Core Database tables are seen expressed in the following sturcture diagram generated by SchemaCrawler 16.19.9 (for a large format version, see Schema Diagram):

In the diagram, tables colored green are analytical data tables hosting raw data from the Denali Ice Cores. Tables colored dark blue are metadata for the analytical labs that the data was collected in, including the institution and instrument make/model. Tables colored cyan hold published standard (certified) reference material values and the values of those materials collected on the days Denali Ice Core samples were run on various instruments.