General Format

The location of items (variables, objects, systems …) are identified by a three-part suffix that is added to the item ID. The suffix comprises three indices that give information about the horizontal and vertical location of an item, and about replicates at the same location.

anyItemID_H_V_R

whereby

anyItemID … any item ID that needs to be located
H … horizontal position index: location of the sensor on a 2D space
V … vertical position index: vertical height above the ground or depth of soil in meters
R … replicate index: replicated measurement in the same location

The location suffix _H_V_R refers to the sampling point of a parameter or the location of an instrument.

The location is exactly defined by the last three identifiers in the respective item name, meaning the item can be located when reading the variable from the end to the front. This is particularly important since variable labels can be extended by a prefix, suffix or identifier and this may lead to confusion.