VARIABLE	DESCRIPTION	LEGAL_VALUES
INDEX_AP	Index visit for Albemarle-Pamlico Study	Y|N|NA
INDEX_NCCA15	Index visit for NCCA 2015 survey - applies to both estuary and Great Lakes sites that are part of NCCA	
SALINITY	Salinity	
TARGET_TAXON	Name of taxon at target taxon level	
TOTAL	Total number of individuals in sample	
DEPTH	Depth of grab(s)	
FINAL_GRAB_AREA	Adjusted grab area	
GRAB_AREA	Size of the grab area (m2)	
GRAB_TYPE	Type of grab tool for benthic infauna collection	|STANDARD_PONAR|VAN_VEEN|OTHER
GRABS	Number of grabs taken	|1|2
SAMPLE_ID	Sample ID	
SIEVE_SIZE	Sieve size	|0.5|1.0
PSTL_CODE	State (US) or Province (Canada) abbreviation	
STUDY	Study name	
DATE_COL	Date collected	|01|02|03|04|05|06|07|08|09|10|11|12
SITE_ID	Site id	
VISIT_NO	Visit: 1/2	|1|2
YEAR	Year site visited	
FEAT_NM	"Most detailed name available and may identify different portions of an estuary. \blank\"" if missing"""	
NCCA_REG	"National Coastal Condition Assessment Region.  Northeast includes states ME, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, MD, DE, and VA.  Southeast includes NC, SC, GA, and east coast of FL.  No missing values allowed."	Northeast|Southeast|Gulf|West|Great Lakes|
PUBLICATION_DATE	Date the dataset was published to the NARS site	
UID	Unique identifier for the site/visit	
COMMENT	Additional comments	
QA_FLAG	Laboratory QA flags (not necessarily translatedto NCCA_FLAG)	
CONDITION_CODE	Condition code of sample upon arrival in the lab