Documentation

Sites are the key locations where project activities take place. This guide covers how to add them in Certify. For guidance on specific site types under each protocol, and which metadata and links they expect, see the Sites reference.

Sites are currently supported for:

Reforestation projects using the Reforestation protocol
Enhanced Weathering projects using the Enhanced Weathering in Agriculture protocol

The sites page

Open the Certify dashboard, select your project, and click Sites in the left-hand navigation. The page shows one tab per site type configured for your project, plus a tab for each type of measurement sample that can be recorded anywhere in your project. Each site tab shows how many sites of that type exist, a description of what the type represents, and a table of the sites themselves with their names, reference IDs, geometry and metadata. From a site tab you may:

Add sites of that type.
Export sites of that type, and of any type below it in the hierarchy, as CSV or GeoJSON.
View on map to see every site in the project on one map.
Select sites with the checkboxes to delete them.

Only project editors can add or delete sites. Sites that are already in use — referenced by a measurement sample or a carbon accounting component — and sites whose validation has been completed cannot be deleted. A lock icon will be shown for any site that cannot be deleted.

Creating sites

Click the + Add button to add a new Site and provide a unique name and reference ID. The UI will also typically ask for a file upload to define the site’s geography. The type of upload depends on the site type’s geography, defined by the protocol.

Geography	Upload	Notes
Area	One or more GeoJSON files	Polygon and MultiPolygon features. Areas cannot be uploaded via CSV.
Point	One or more CSV files	A `latitude` and `longitude` column per site.
None	A short form in Certify	Just a name and reference ID; the site is defined by what it contains.

Sites at the top of a hierarchy — for example a Reforestation Project Area or an Enhanced Weathering Removal area — combine both: the parent’s name and reference ID and GeoJSON for its child fields are provided in the same step.

Child site types that are always created underneath a parent, such as a Reforestation or Enhanced Weathering Field, have no Add button of their own. Add them from their parent’s Add flow instead.

On each upload dialog, you will be able to download:

A template, containing the exact columns or GeoJSON properties expected for that site type in your project, with no data.
An example, the same structure filled in with placeholder values.

We recommend always checking the template on your project first. Metadata columns and properties may be specific to a protocol or module version, so a file that worked for another project or protocol may not include the right fields.

Reference IDs and geometry

Each site needs a unique reference_id within your organisation. This is how you refer to the site later: linking activities to it, attaching measurement samples, and matching exports to your own records. See Supplier Reference ID for conventions. Geometry must follow the FAIR principles for geospatial data, and coordinates are longitude-latitude pairs in WGS 84, as the GeoJSON specification requires. Certify renders uploaded geometry on a map so you can check it before continuing.

How sites are linked to each other

Certify builds the site hierarchy for you in one of two ways, depending on the protocol.

Explicit links
Spatial matching

The parent is named directly. In practice this means you create the parent and upload its children in the same step, so no reference ID needs to be typed twice.This is how Reforestation Project Areas link to Fields, and how Enhanced Weathering Removal areas link to Fields.

Examples

Reforestation project area
Enhanced Weathering removal area

This walkthrough adds a Project Area with two Fields, then the Field Plots inside them.

Prepare the field boundaries

Go to Sites, open the Fields tab, and download the GeoJSON template.Each feature is one field, with name and reference_id in its properties:

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-0.1296, 51.5196], "..."]] },
      "properties": { "name": "Field 1", "reference_id": "field_1" }
    }
  ]
}

Provide each set of fields that is planted at the same time and with the same species mix as its own feature, since that is what a Field represents.

Create project area with its fields

Open the Project Areas tab and click Add. Enter the project area’s Name and Reference ID, attach one or more field GeoJSON files, and click Add project area.Certify creates the project area, creates a Field for every feature in the files, and links each Field to the project area.

Upload field plots

Open the Field Plots tab, click Add, and upload the field plot GeoJSON.Field plots are matched to their Field by geometry, so there is no parent column to fill in. Field plots are allowed to overlap one another.

Check hierarchy

Click a project area in the table to open it. Its page has a tab for each level below it — Fields and Field Plots — so you can confirm each field plot landed under the right field.A project area is validatable, so its page also has a Requirements tab listing the validation requirements your VVB will review, along with any issues raised against it.

Add measurements

With field plots in place, upload the tree measurements taken in them — see Add activities.

This walkthrough adds a Removal area with its Fields, then the Measurement locations where samples are taken.

Prepare the field boundaries

Go to Sites, open the Fields tab, and download the GeoJSON template.Each feature is one agricultural field where feedstock is applied, with name, reference_id and plot_type in its properties:

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": { "type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-0.1296, 51.5196], "..."]] },
      "properties": { "name": "Field 1", "reference_id": "field_1", "plot_type": "treatment" }
    }
  ]
}

plot_type tells Certify the role the field plays in quantification, and must be one of control, treatment, deployment or research. A removal area needs treatment fields where feedstock was spread, control fields without feedstock to compare against, and deployment fields if you are using the 3-plot model. Fields are not allowed to overlap one another.

Create removal area with its fields

Open the Removal areas tab and click Add. Enter the removal area’s Name and Reference ID, attach one or more field GeoJSON files, and click Add removal area.Certify creates the removal area, creates a Field for every feature in the files, and links each Field to the removal area. A field can belong to more than one removal area.

Upload measurement locations

Open the Measurement locations tab, click Add, and upload a CSV of the latitude-longitude points where samples are collected — where a soil core was extracted, for instance, or an ion exchange resin device installed. Its columns are:

name
reference_id
latitude
longitude

Each location is matched to the field whose boundary contains it, so there is no parent column to fill in.

Check hierarchy

Click a removal area in the table to open it. Its page has a tab for each level below it — Fields and Measurement locations — so you can confirm each location landed under the right field.A removal area is validatable, so its page also has a Requirements tab listing the validation requirements your VVB will review, along with any issues raised against it.

Add sample data

With measurement locations in place, upload the samples taken at them — soil, biomass, porewater and ion exchange resin. See Adding measurement samples.

Sample data can only be uploaded once its measurement locations exist, because every sample must be linked to one.

Addressing errors in uploaded data

If a file has the wrong data in it, delete the affected sites with the table checkboxes and Delete button, then re-upload the corrected file. Where a site can no longer be deleted — because it is already in use, or its validation has completed — contact your Registry Operations Manager.

Overview

Certify

Registry

AI

Add sites

The sites page

Creating sites

Reference IDs and geometry

How sites are linked to each other

Examples

Addressing errors in uploaded data

​The sites page

​Creating sites

​Reference IDs and geometry

​How sites are linked to each other

​Examples

​Addressing errors in uploaded data

The sites page

Creating sites

Reference IDs and geometry

How sites are linked to each other

Examples

Addressing errors in uploaded data