<p>Not sure if you're more interested in data/metadata standards themselves or platforms for which to archive recordings, but if it's the latter, here are some -</p>
<p><a href="https://arbimon.rfcx.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ARBIMON</a> (from Rainforest Connection) is a free, web-based platform for storing, managing, archiving, etc. passive acoustic recordings. Also has functionality for spectrogram viewing, template matching, etc.</p>
<p>There is also <a href="https://github.com/nperezg/biosounds" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Biosounds</a>, a web-based platform for ecoacoustics that archives and organises soundscape collections.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-06T15:42:56.400Z
2022-07-06T15:42:56.400Z
Carly Batist
<p>You could look to public soundscape archival entities for inspiration. For example, <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/passive_acoustic_data/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has a Passive Acoustic Data map</a>. If you click on points on this map, you can eventually click through to a JSON file that shows the structure of the key-values used in their database and archival system (<a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/noaa-passive-bioacoustic/adeon/hat/amar.381.4/metadata/adeon_en626_hat.amar381.4-metadata.json" rel="nofollow noreferrer">example here</a>).</p>
<p>Depending on how large and collaborative your project is, you might have different needs out of a database / organizational system. In the past, I have worked on projects where we organized the data in SQLite, which is a fairly lightweight and flexible system. Pros: you don't need a database administrator -- you can do it yourself! Cons: a lack of &quot;concurrency&quot; if you are going to have many contributors to the database (though not typically an issue if you or a small number of collaborators are the only ones contributing to the database).</p>
<p>For R users, it is possible to set up a SQLite database from R and manage your data via R packages such as RSQLite and DBI. <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13397" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here is a paper on how some colleagues and I have made this work for prior acoustic monitoring projects</a> as well as a <a href="https://code.usgs.gov/vtcfwru/ammonitor" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gitlab Wiki page on the database structure we used</a> (all code is available at this repository). This particular software is undergoing some changes, however -- suffice to say, it is quite an undertaking to elegantly manage a large set of acoustics data, and to have the foresight to figure out all the pieces you need to track and how they should relate together.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-09T18:35:37.590Z
Hi, the link to your gitlab wiki is not working. could you update it? many thanks :)
Amandine Gasc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-09T18:48:03.897Z
I found it: https://code.usgs.gov/vtcfwru/ammonitor
Amandine Gasc
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-13T00:11:13.073Z
Thanks @Amandine Gasc. I've edited to fix the link!
Cathleen B
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-05T20:54:53.433Z
2022-12-13T00:09:59.967Z
2022-12-13T00:09:59.967Z
Cathleen B
<p>I face big data archives of field recordings collected with Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) and I am wondering of some standard database structure that I should respect. Any reports or papers you could recommend?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-05T20:42:53.660Z
Are you looking for organizational advice for the audio files or the metadata related to the deployments (e.g. sample rate, lat/long, time period of recording, instrument details etc)?
ASimonis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-06T07:09:31.347Z
yes that would be great
Amandine Gasc
<soundscape><archive><bigdata>
My soundscape archives are getting messy. Any database structure/metadata recommendations?
# My soundscape archives are getting messy. Any database structure/metadata recommendations?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-05)

I face big data archives of field recordings collected with Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) and I am wondering of some standard database structure that I should respect. Any reports or papers you could recommend?

**Tags:** soundscape, archive, bigdata

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are you looking for organizational advice for the audio files or the metadata related to the deployments (e.g. sample rate, lat/long, time period of recording, instrument details etc)?  
> **username_0**: yes that would be great  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-07-05. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

You could look to public soundscape archival entities for inspiration. For example, [NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has a Passive Acoustic Data map](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/passive_acoustic_data/). If you click on points on this map, you can eventually click through to a JSON file that shows the structure of the key-values used in their database and archival system ([example here](https://storage.googleapis.com/noaa-passive-bioacoustic/adeon/hat/amar.381.4/metadata/adeon_en626_hat.amar381.4-metadata.json)).

Depending on how large and collaborative your project is, you might have different needs out of a database / organizational system. In the past, I have worked on projects where we organized the data in SQLite, which is a fairly lightweight and flexible system. Pros: you don't need a database administrator -- you can do it yourself! Cons: a lack of "concurrency" if you are going to have many contributors to the database (though not typically an issue if you or a small number of collaborators are the only ones contributing to the database).

For R users, it is possible to set up a SQLite database from R and manage your data via R packages such as RSQLite and DBI. [Here is a paper on how some colleagues and I have made this work for prior acoustic monitoring projects](https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13397) as well as a [Gitlab Wiki page on the database structure we used](https://code.usgs.gov/vtcfwru/ammonitor) (all code is available at this repository). This particular software is undergoing some changes, however -- suffice to say, it is quite an undertaking to elegantly manage a large set of acoustics data, and to have the foresight to figure out all the pieces you need to track and how they should relate together.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hi, the link to your gitlab wiki is not working. could you update it? many thanks :)  
> **username_0**: I found it: https://code.usgs.gov/vtcfwru/ammonitor  
> **username_3**: Thanks @username_0. I've edited to fix the link!  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-07-06. Score: 4

Not sure if you're more interested in data/metadata standards themselves or platforms for which to archive recordings, but if it's the latter, here are some -

[ARBIMON](https://arbimon.rfcx.org/) (from Rainforest Connection) is a free, web-based platform for storing, managing, archiving, etc. passive acoustic recordings. Also has functionality for spectrogram viewing, template matching, etc.

There is also [Biosounds](https://github.com/nperezg/biosounds), a web-based platform for ecoacoustics that archives and organises soundscape collections.


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