The AGS data transfer format is a standard file format for the transfer of geotechnical and geoenvironmental data in the site investigation industry. Data should follow the Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists’ guidelines with the following considerations.
- Format: correct formatting containing no comma or quote errors, which may prevent the file from being processed automatically
- Coordinates: coordinates should be provided for all boreholes in British National Grid (BNG) except for NI AGS, where coordinates, if not in BNG, must be in Irish National Grid
- Key fields: key fields are necessary to uniquely define the data and all key fields must appear in each group (but may contain null data)
- No orphan records: all records should relate to a parent sample or hole
- No duplicate records: no duplicate records should be present, as this breaks unique identifier rules
- Complete information: important but not mandatory fields, such as PROJ_CONT or PROJ_ID, should be populated as far as possible
- Translated codes: all codes used should be present in ABBR
- Numerical values: although text can be stored in all AGS fields, this is not always appropriate for values relating to units, so these should contain numbers with remarks in a remarks field, if required
- Lithostratigraphy codes: when a BGS Lexicon code is used, it should be recorded in the GEOL_BGS field rather than the GEOL_DESC field
- Null means null: where there is no value, the field should be null; it should not be padded out with zeros as this may affect statistical analysis
For the AGS validation facility and more information, visit BGS geotechnical data services.