In you data handling program (for example Microsoft Excel) organise your data so that different variables are listed in different columns and time is changing with rows. There are alternative ways of specifying the time.
1. Give time by 12 characters:
YEAR-MONTH-DAY-HOUR-MINUTE
Ex.
199501230830
(YYYYMMDDHHMM)
(alternatively only as YYMMDDHHMM)
In the data handling
program, list the dates in the first column.
2. Give time by 8
characters: YEAR-MONTH-DAY
Ex.
19950123
(YYYYMMDD)
(alternatively only as YYMMDD)
In the data handling program,
list the dates in the first column.
3. If your data consists of a number of time points, all separated by the same time interval, or if there is just one time point, you do not need to specify each of them in the file. Instead you can give the first time specification and the time interval when you enter the PG programme (see below). This option is recommended.
4. An ASCII file derived from the Campbell data logger has normally time specified in three separate variables (year, daynumber and time-of-day). This type of formate is handled separately (see below).
If your time is specified in another way, e.g. as daynumber or minutes you can always read this type of time specification as a separate variable and later, by using a feature in PG (subsection C1 option S13) convert this time to the ordinary time specification as a string of 12 characters. In this case you can request a common time to all your records.
When you have finished structuring your data, save you sheet as a “csv (comma delimited)” or a “Unicode text”-file (accept all the warning messages) and exit the data handling program.