When multiple occurrences at the same point location and date can be grouped by a shared sampling protocol, a more comprehensive approach is recommended. Moving beyond simple occurrence records to event-based structure allows for a clearer representation of sampling effort, methods and abundances.

Following the GBIF’s data quality requirements can significantly enhance the scientific usability of the records.

Terms

Term	Status
eventID	Required *
eventDate	Required
decimalLatitude	Required
decimalLongitude	Required
geodeticDatum	Strongly recommended
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters	Strongly recommended
verbatimCoordinateSystem	Share if available
dynamicProperties	Required *

* Conditional, see Details section

Details

eventID

Should be globally unique, dataset-specific and ideally stable.

If a low and a high resolution version of a dataset is appropriate in function of the Flemish Biodiversity Portal (VBP), include SEN in the eventIDs of the high resolution version.

Example:

• MBAG:MAS:2018-04-05:VL0055:009 in the low resolution version
• MBAG:MAS:SEN:2018-04-05:VL0055:009 in the high resolution version

geodeticDatum

Example:

WGS84 is recommended (instead of EPSG:4326).

verbatimCoordinateSystem

Example:

Belgian Lambert 72 is recommended (instead of BD 72 / Belgian Lambert 72).

dynamicProperties

Required in case of a low and a high resolution version of a dataset in function of VBP.

Example:

• {"rbac":false,"rbac_allowed":"HIGHRES"} in the low resolution version
• {"rbac":true,"rbac_allowed":"HIGHRES"} in the high resolution version

If included, format as JSON.