Data Description and Requirements

This document summarizes the producer-level and associated third-party data collected by the ESMC portal. The objectives of this document are to provide the reader with the following:

1. an understanding of the data being collected;
2. an overview of the database structures employed to collect and manage the data; and
3. an introduction on how to utilize and read the detailed data specifications given as part of the OpenAPI specification at https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi, which is the definitive source of record for the data and its interpretation.

Please note that in addition to collecting producer data, the ESMC portal imports data from other platforms, integrates third-party data, generates data, and exports data. An overview of this data is provided below.

Data Intake

Data is collected by the ESMC portal through the following, non-exclusive methods.

1. Direct data entry into the portal (https://producer.esmcportal.org)
2. Import through the ESMC API (see https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi for details).
3. Use-case specific manual or scripted inputs directly into the database.
4. (Future) Producer-initiated import from another platform.

In addition to collecting the data from various sources, the data requested and required by ESMC varies based on the asset or credit for which the producer (or project) is seeking. The five assets and credits presently supported by the portal are as follows:

1. Scope 1 Green House Gas (GHG) Credit
2. Scope 1 Water Quality (WQL) Credit
3. Scope 3 GHG Asset
4. Scope 3 WQL Asset
5. Scope 3 Water Quantity (WQN) Asset

The data requirements for each credit/asset are given below.

Data Structure

The ESMC database is structured in an hierarchical manner as illustrated in the following image. In general terms, every project has a list of producers, each producer has a set of fields (which can change on an annual basis), each field has crops and herds which change over time, and each crop and herd are managed with a program.

As noted above, the master data specification for each of the above components is maintained in an OpenAPI format at https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi). However, for the reader’s convenient, the following is provided as an introduction to the OpenAPI specification and as a quick data overview summary. For detailed specification, direct links to the relevant OpenAPI specification are provided for the readers convenience.

Since the OpenAPI specification may be new to the reader, the following graphic has been created using the Drainage Component to explain how to read the documentation. As shown, the Drainage Component collect 4 data inputs: percentOfField, tileDepth, treatmentTypes, and treatmentPercentOfFields. Also note that these parameters are required for all credits and assets except for Scope 3 Water Quantity assets as stated in the top table.

Furthermore, note that a description for each parameter (unless the description is self-explanatory, e.g., percentOfField), the valid range of the input parameter, the units of the parameter (when applicable), and the allowable parameter options are provided.

A detailed description of each data element collected on import or provided on export is provided as shown in the following figure. Simply click on a component in the left toolbar to see the detailed data specification for that component. Also, please note that while an example JSON file is given for each component in the right panel (not shown), the JSON format is provided as an aid to the developers and is not needed to understand the parameters.

Data Components

A summary of the data collected for ESMC is organized below by the above data components.

Project Information

The data collected for each project includes the following:

Parameter	Description	Example
project	The name of the project	TNC Minnesota Project
id	An internal UUID used to reference the project in the database	5f6392058a936e07360cca91
date	The last date the project was updated	Thu Apr 15 2021 16:49:01 GMT+0100 (Ame)
version	The version number of the data structures	1
assets	The GHG, WQL, and WQN credits/assets the project is applying for	Scope 1 GHG Credit Scope 1 WQL Credit

Producer Information

The data collected for each producer enrolled in ESMC is summarized below.

Parameter	Description	Example
name	The name of the producer	John Smith
address	The producer’s address	10 Main Street
city	The producer’s city	Centerville
state	The producer’s state	Illinois
zip	The producer’s US postal code	61820
phone	The producer’s phone number	555-555-5555
email	The producer’s email address	producer@email.com
userByProjectId	An automatically generated anonymized id for the producer	TNCMN-Producer-1
id	An internal UUID used to identify the user in the database	5f6392058a936e07360cca91
narrative	Historical information about the producer’s farm	(see narrative below)

Field Information

The data collected for each of the producer’s fields is summarized below. A detailed summary follows the table below and is given at https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_field.

Parameter	Description	Example
name	The name of the field	East 80
fieldByProjectId	An automatically generated anonymized id for the field	TNCMN-Field-1
id	An internal UUID used to identify the field in the database	5f6392058a936e07360cca91
description	A description of the field and the practices on the field as provided by the producer	Tried using with covers over the last 5 years. Recently, included livestock grazing in recent years. Have been practicing conservation till for the last 7 years.
boundary	The GIS coordinates of the field boundary	(See field)
area	The area of the field in acres	82.43
crops	The crops planted on the field for one or more growing seasons	(See crops)
tract	The FSA tract number
ownershipType	The producer’s ownership status of the field	rented Options include the corporation-owned, individual-owned-private, individual-owned-multiple, leased, and rented.
leaseRentTermExpirationYear	The year producer’s lease expires	2026
irrigation	Details regarding the irrigation system	(See irrigation)
historicalPractices	A summary of the historical practices on the field
what’sNew	The new practices that the producer is implementing that will qualify them for ESMC	Tillage Options include nutrientManagement, coverCrop, conservationPractices, tillage, prescribedGrazing, and other.

Crop Information

The crop data collected for each field is summarized below.

Parameter	Description	Example
name	The name of the crop	GMO corn
type	The crop type	Corn
yield	The crop yield in bu/acre	210
growingSeason	The growing season of the crop (the crop growing season is defined from harvest of the previous crop to harvest of the current crop)	(see growing season)
coverCrop	The details about the cover crop, if planted	(see covercrop)
residue	The details about the amount of residue left on the field after harvesting the previous crop	(see residue)
programName	The name of the program used to manage the crop	Conservation till corn
programDescription	A description of the program used to manage the crop	A conservation, strip till program
operations	The field operations used to manage the program	(see Operations)

Operations

Data is collected in the ESMC portal for the following operations. Please note that only data for the operations that are performed on a specific field for each specific year needs to be collected.

1. Baling: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_baling
2. Burning: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_burning
3. Cutting: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_cutting
4. Harvest: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_harvest
5. Manure fertilizer: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_manureFertilizer
6. Non-manure fertilizer: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_nonManureFertilizer
7. Planting: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_planting
8. Tillage: https://www.ecoharvest.ag/wp-content/oapi/#tag/model_tillage