Support data collection and reporting

Draft a one-page technical appendix that lists the 12 data fields we collected in the coastal survey, explains each field's format and acceptable ranges, and notes the responsible collector and submission deadline. Make it clear which fields are mandatory for the quarterly report and which are optional for follow-up.

Before I circulate this to the monitoring team, make it easier for data clerks to follow: put mandatory fields in a table with examples of valid values, move the submission checklist to the first page, surface the most common validation errors, and flag any field descriptions that could be misinterpreted by respondents.

We received the coastal dataset and the validator rejected 40 percent because collectors logged coordinates without decimal places. The field team says devices round by default. I don't know whether to ask for a re-collect, accept and adjust coordinates, or change validation rules. What's the likely best move that preserves data integrity and relationships with field teams?

Across five surveys I lose time reconciling formats, chasing missing fields, and rewriting validators. It costs our analysts a week per quarter. Where should I change habits: the data specification, the collection training, or the submission enforcement? Recommend one concrete habit to adopt and how to test it in the next round.