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#104: Clarify the interpretation of scalar coordinate variables
-----------------------------+----------------------------------------------
  Reporter:  jonathan        |       Owner:  [email protected]
      Type:  enhancement     |      Status:  new                          
  Priority:  medium          |   Milestone:                               
 Component:  cf-conventions  |     Version:                               
Resolution:                  |    Keywords:                               
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Comment (by stevehankin):

 I think this is our question:  ''When a scalar coordinate is associated
 with a data variable through a coordinates attribute, is the proper
 interpretation that the scalar coordinate is an independent axis of length
 1?  Or simply a dependent variable?''

 The current text is internally contradictory (*).  But I like the free
 wheeling approach that is found in this definition:

     '''scalar coordinate variable'''[[BR]]
     A scalar variable that contains coordinate data. Functionally
 equivalent to either a size one coordinate variable or a size one
 auxiliary coordinate variable.

 I suspect that we should continue to live with this ambiguity. To
 emphasize this perspective consider example H.5 (''Single time series,
 including deviations from a nominal fixed spatial location'' [http://cf-
 pcmdi.llnl.gov/documents/cf-conventions/1.6/cf-
 conventions.html#idp8320208] ) in which scalar variables 'lat' and 'lon'
 may be regarded as independent or dependent depending on the context in
 which the file is being used.

 This ambiguity is (I think) a challenge for the data model rather than for
 CF, itself.   Can it be addressed by redefining some concepts inside of
 the data model, without altering CF?  (So easy to lose track of the
 question.  Sorry if I have.)

 ====

 (*) The text also says: "Scalar coordinate variables have the same
 information content and can be used in the same contexts as a size one
 coordinate variable."

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://cf-pcmdi.llnl.gov/trac/ticket/104#comment:61>
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