Nomenclature

This page summarizes key naming conventions used by TRAILS in data packages, inventory outputs, and LCIA matching.

Scenario labels

Scenario labels are stored as strings (for example "2020", "2050") and interpreted as calendar years. Internally, TRAILS maps requested years to the nearest available scenario year when needed.

Activity metadata

Activity metadata is stored per scenario label under trails.activity_indices. Each activity entry is keyed by integer activity id and typically includes:

  • name

  • reference product

  • location

  • unit

Biosphere flow keys

Biosphere metadata is stored under trails.biosphere_indices. LCIA matching and several downstream workflows use biosphere flow tuple keys in this form:

  • (name, compartment, subcompartment)

Examples:

  • ("Carbon dioxide, fossil", "air", "urban air close to ground")

  • ("Water, river", "natural resource", "in water")

When a subcompartment is unavailable in source method data, TRAILS uses the placeholder "unspecified".

Temporal exchange fields

Temporal exchange metadata (when present) uses these fields:

  • temporal_distribution

  • temporal_loc

  • temporal_scale

  • temporal_min / temporal_max

  • temporal_offsets / temporal_weights (for discrete empirical pulses)

  • temporal_amount_source (port or matrix)

These fields map to TemporalExchange objects during routing and inventory accumulation.

FaIR mapping keys

FaIR species mapping uses biosphere flow keys compatible with the tuple format above. Mapping can also fall back to flow name-only keys when tuple matching is not available in the mapping file.