metatools
SDTM supplemental-qualifier merging got sturdier, then the package went quiet for two years.
Comparison · Analytics
admiralmetabolic vs FedData
A side-by-side editorial comparison of admiralmetabolic and FedData — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
admiralmetabolic vs FedData: at a glance
What is admiralmetabolic?
admiralmetabolic has covered its core obesity derivations and moved to upkeep.
Three releases in thirteen months took the package from two anthropometric ratio derivations to ADVS, ADCOEQ and ADLB templates with matching vignettes and shared SDTM test data. The February 2026 release contains no new functions — a template path fix, a CRAN relative-path fix, central lint configuration, and the kapa.ai Ask AI widget added across admiral documentation.
What is FedData?
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
admiralmetabolic vs FedData: editorial side-by-side
admiralmetabolic
0.0ANALYTICS
admiralmetabolic has covered its core obesity derivations and moved to upkeep.
◆ Current state
Three releases in thirteen months took the package from two anthropometric ratio derivations to ADVS, ADCOEQ and ADLB templates with matching vignettes and shared SDTM test data. The February 2026 release contains no new functions — a template path fix, a CRAN relative-path fix, central lint configuration, and the kapa.ai Ask AI widget added across admiral documentation.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is consolidating into the pharmaverse ecosystem rather than growing its own surface: test datasets moved out to pharmaversesdtm, lint configuration moved to admiraldev, and documentation now points back at the shared admiral ecosystem page. What stays package-specific is the metabolic derivations themselves.
◆ Prediction
With no metabolic-specific derivations in the latest release, the next cycle looks more likely to bring another dataset or template than new functions.
FedData
0.0ANALYTICS
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
◆ Current state
FedData downloads and standardises US federal geospatial datasets — NLCD, NHD, NED, SSURGO, Daymet, GHCN, PAD-US, NASS — into consistent R objects. Two breaking majors define the current package: 3.0.0 moved returns to sf and raster and pulled data from cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs, and 4.0.0 finished the job by dropping sp and raster entirely for terra and sf. Recent releases are dataset refreshes, most recently PAD-US 4.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The package tracks two moving targets at once: the R spatial stack, which it has now fully migrated onto terra and sf, and the federal agencies whose URLs, file naming and hosting keep shifting. With the dependency migration finished, releases have shrunk to single-dataset updates such as annual NLCD and PAD-US 4.0, which suggests the structural work is done and the ongoing cost is data-source maintenance.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued small releases pinned to new vintages of the underlying federal datasets, plus fixes when an agency moves or reformats a source; no further dependency-level upheaval is visible in these entries.
Alternatives to admiralmetabolic and FedData
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either admiralmetabolic or FedData.
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lobstr
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GSODR
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See all admiralmetabolic alternatives → · See all FedData alternatives →
Recent activity from admiralmetabolic and FedData
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6mo agoadmiralmetabolicTemplate path and CRAN fixes, plus an Ask AI docs widget
- 1y agoadmiralmetabolicADLB template and metabolic lab datasets
- 1y agoFedDataget_padus() updated to PAD-US 4.0
- 1y agoadmiralmetabolicInitial release with waist-ratio derivations for obesity
- 1y agoFedDataAnnual NLCD access added; get_nass() retired
- 2y agoFedDatasp and raster dropped; everything returns terra or sf ⚡
- 3y agoFedDataGHCN moves to https; NHD handles empty and odd geometries
- 3y agoFedDataAll raster writing moves to terra
- 3y agoFedDataVersion 3 rebuilds on sf and cloud-optimised GeoTIFFs ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between admiralmetabolic and FedData?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. admiralmetabolic and FedData are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is admiralmetabolic better than FedData?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. admiralmetabolic and FedData are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to admiralmetabolic?
Top admiralmetabolic alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "admiralmetabolic alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/admiralmetabolic for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to FedData?
Top FedData alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "FedData alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/feddata for the full list with editorial commentary on each.