diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index be3c08170..85fea88c6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -46,4 +46,5 @@ pkgdown/*
 /Meta/
 
 # rosm cache
+rosm.cache/
 rosm.cache
diff --git a/CRAN-SUBMISSION b/CRAN-SUBMISSION
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c2f0c30b..000000000
--- a/CRAN-SUBMISSION
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-Version: 0.7.3
-Date: 2023-10-20 02:23:58 UTC
-SHA: 71b8994af389b81aba24d2b3e5afbb97386e36c5
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index c00e3372c..778a279b8 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 Package: bioRad
 Title: Biological Analysis and Visualization of Weather Radar Data
-Version: 0.7.3.9000
+Version: 0.8.1
 Description: Extract, visualize and summarize aerial movements of birds and
     insects from weather radar data. See Dokter, A. M. et al. (2018) 
     "bioRad: biological analysis and visualization of weather radar data" <doi:10.1111/ecog.04028>
     for a software paper describing package and methodologies.
 Authors@R: c(
-    person("Adriaan M.", "Dokter", role = c("aut", "cre"), email = "amd427@cornell.edu", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-6573-066X")),
+    person("Adriaan M.", "Dokter", role = c("aut", "cre"), email = "biorad@cornell.edu", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-6573-066X")),
     person("Peter", "Desmet", role = "aut", email = "peter.desmet@inbo.be", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-8442-8025")),
     person("Bart", "Kranstauber", role = "aut", email = "b.kranstauber@uva.nl", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8303-780X")),
     person("Cecilia", "Nilsson", role = "aut", email = "cecilia.nilsson709@gmail.com", comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8957-4411")),
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ Imports:
     curl,
     dplyr (>= 1.1.0),
     fields,
-    frictionless,
     ggplot2,
     glue,
     graphics,
@@ -44,10 +43,13 @@ Imports:
     readr,
     rhdf5,
     rlang,
+    sf,
     sp,
     stats,
+    stringr,
     suntools,
     tidyr,
+    tidyselect,
     utils,
     viridis,
     viridisLite
@@ -58,14 +60,12 @@ Suggests:
     prettymapr,
     rmarkdown,
     rosm,
-    sf,
     testthat (>= 3.0.0),
-    tidyselect,
     vdiffr,
     vol2birdR
 LazyData: true
 Encoding: UTF-8
 VignetteBuilder: knitr
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 84377c781..b3d6821cc 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -150,4 +150,3 @@ export(write_pvolfile)
 importFrom(dplyr,"%>%")
 importFrom(dplyr,.data)
 importFrom(methods,as)
-importFrom(stats,na.omit)
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 694f446ac..6f5f00e72 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,17 +1,39 @@
 
-# bioRad 0.7.3.9000
+# bioRad 0.8.1
+
+## bugfixes
+
+* dbz_all field in VPTS CSV files is now correctly mapped to DBZH field
+
+* non-standard data fields are now retained in vpts objects produced with as.vpts()
+
+# bioRad 0.8.0
+
+## New features
+
+* ENRAM VPTS data exchange format added in package data as `vpts_schema.rda`
+
+* VPTS files are now able to be validated with `validate_vpts()` which uses the schema to check for min/max constraint violations for specific fields, regex and datetime formatting
 
 * speed up `integrate_to_ppi()` and `project_as_ppi()` by using native `sf` functions (#669)
 
+* support for tidyverse select method for polar volume and polar scan objects (#668,#460)
+
 ## Bugfixes
 
-* support for tidyverse select method for polar volume and polar scan objects (#668,#460)
+* Corrected the default refractive index value used in conversion of linear reflectivity (eta) to logarithmic reflectivity (dBZ). The effect is a 7% increase in animal densities in output of functions `integrate_to_ppi()` and `read_cajun()` only (#642).
 
-* Updated the default refractive index value used in conversion of linear reflectivity (eta) to logarithmic reflectivity (dBZ) (#642). The effect is a 7% increase in animal densities in output of functions `integrate_to_ppi()` and `read_cajun()` only.
+* Fixed the handling of empty numeric vectors when plotting clutter maps (#655)
 
-# bioRad 0.7.3
+* Fixed warning when reading VPTS csv containing multiple values in `lat`, `lon`, '`rcs`' or `sd_vvp_threshold` (#651)
 
-## New features
+* Fixed enabling/disabling of `single_pol` flag in `calculate_vp()` (#646)
+
+* Updated the s3 source bucket of `download_vpfiles()` to https://aloftdata.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com (#648)
+
+* Fixed an error in the idw method of `composite_ppi()` that emerged with the evolution of dependency package sp / deprecation of rgdal (#666)
+
+# bioRad 0.7.3
 
 * Replaced the `ggmap` package with `ggspatial` for map visualizations. This change was made as `ggmap` no longer provides reliable open-source basemaps without the necessity to register for an API key (#638).
 
@@ -76,7 +98,6 @@ bioRad 0.7 includes a major backend overhaul that deprecates the use of Docker.
 ## Deprecations
 
 
-
 * Argument `local_install` in `calculate_vp()` and `apply_mistnet()` is now deprecated.
 
 * Functions `check_docker()` and `update_docker()` have been deprecated.
diff --git a/R/apply_mistnet.R b/R/apply_mistnet.R
index 46337ca26..0589c9e88 100644
--- a/R/apply_mistnet.R
+++ b/R/apply_mistnet.R
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@
 #' @examples
 #' \donttest{
 #' # make sure you have installed the MistNet libraries and model, using:
+#' if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)){
 #' if(!vol2birdR::mistnet_exists()){
 #'    vol2birdR::install_mistnet()
 #'    vol2birdR::install_mistnet_model()
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@
 #' # Remove file
 #' file.remove(tempfile)
 #' }
+#' }
 apply_mistnet <- function(file, pvolfile_out, verbose = FALSE,
                           mount = dirname(file), load = TRUE,
                           mistnet_elevations = c(0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5),
diff --git a/R/as.vpts.R b/R/as.vpts.R
index 771c980c0..e21b6c942 100644
--- a/R/as.vpts.R
+++ b/R/as.vpts.R
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 #' Convert a dataframe into a vpts object
 #'
 #' @param data a dataframe created from a VPTS CSV file
@@ -18,6 +17,8 @@ as.vpts <- function(data) {
       dplyr::rename(DBZH = "dbz_all")
   }
 
+  validate_vpts(data)
+
   height <- datetime <- source_file <- radar <- NULL
 
   # Throw error if nrows per height are not identical
@@ -35,13 +36,6 @@ as.vpts <- function(data) {
     msg = "`data` must contain data of a single radar."
   )
 
-  if (!exists("cached_schema")) {
-    # Load the schema from the data directory and cache it
-    cached_schema <- jsonlite::fromJSON(system.file("extdata", "vpts-csv-table-schema.json", package = "bioRad"),
-      simplifyDataFrame = FALSE, simplifyVector = TRUE
-    )
-  }
-
   data <- dplyr::mutate(
     data,
     radar = as.factor(radar),
@@ -71,37 +65,55 @@ as.vpts <- function(data) {
     regular <- FALSE
   }
 
-# Get attributes
-radar_height <- data[["radar_height"]][1]
-interval <- unique(heights[-1] - heights[-length(heights)])
-wavelength <- data[["radar_wavelength"]][1]
-
-# Check and warn for multiple values of specific attributes and return only the first values of those attributes
-check_multivalue_attributes <- function(data) {
-  attributes <- c("radar_longitude", "radar_latitude", "rcs", "sd_vvp_threshold")
-  first_values <- list()
-  for (attr in attributes) {
-    if (length(unique(data[[attr]])) > 1) {
-      warning(paste0("multiple `", attr, "` values found, storing only first (",
-                     as.character(data[[attr]][1]), ") as the functional attribute."))
+  # Get attributes
+  radar_height <- data[["radar_height"]][1]
+  interval <- unique(heights[-1] - heights[-length(heights)])
+  wavelength <- data[["radar_wavelength"]][1]
+
+  # Check and warn for multiple values of specific attributes and return only the first values of those attributes
+  check_multivalue_attributes <- function(data) {
+    attributes <- c("radar_longitude", "radar_latitude", "rcs", "sd_vvp_threshold")
+    first_values <- list()
+    for (attr in attributes) {
+      if (length(unique(data[[attr]])) > 1) {
+        warning(paste0("multiple ", as.character(substitute(attr))," values found, storing only first (",
+                       as.character(data[[attr]][1]), ") as the functional attribute."))
+      }
+      first_values[[attr]] <- data[[attr]][1]
     }
-    first_values[[attr]] <- data[[attr]][1]
+      return(first_values)
   }
-    return(first_values)
-}
 
   first_values <- check_multivalue_attributes(data)
-  
+
   # Directly extract and assign values from the list
   lon <- first_values$radar_longitude
   lat <- first_values$radar_latitude
   rcs <- first_values$rcs
   sd_vvp_threshold <- first_values$sd_vvp_threshold
-  
-  # Convert dataframe
-  maskvars <- c("radar", "rcs", "sd_vvp_threshold", "radar_latitude", "radar_longitude", "radar_height", "radar_wavelength", "source_file", "datetime", "height", "sunrise", "sunset", "day")
 
-  data <- df_to_mat_list(data, maskvars, cached_schema)
+  # column names not to store in the vpts$data slot
+  radvars_exclude <- c("radar","datetime","height","rcs","sd_vvp_threshold","radar_latitude","radar_longitude","radar_height","radar_wavelength")
+  # radvars to include in vpts$data slot
+  radvars <- names(data)[!names(data) %in% radvars_exclude]
+
+  # calculate number of vertical profiles present
+  n_vp <- nrow(data)/length(heights)
+
+  # cast data.frame to list of matrices
+  data_output <- lapply(radvars, function(x) matrix(data[[x]],ncol=n_vp))
+  names(data_output)=radvars
+
+  # List of vectors to check
+  vectors_to_check <- list(heights = heights, interval = interval, radar_height = radar_height, lon = lon, lat = lat)
+
+  # Identify empty vectors
+  empty_vectors <- names(vectors_to_check)[sapply(vectors_to_check, function(v) length(v) == 0)]
+
+  # Stop execution if any empty vectors are found
+  if (length(empty_vectors) > 0) {
+      stop("Empty vectors detected: ", paste(empty_vectors, collapse=", "))
+  }
 
   # Create vpts object
   output <- list(
@@ -110,7 +122,7 @@ check_multivalue_attributes <- function(data) {
     height = heights,
     daterange = c(min(datetime), max(datetime)),
     timesteps = difftimes,
-    data = data,
+    data = data_output,
     attributes = list(
       where = data.frame(
         interval = as.integer(interval),
diff --git a/R/calculate_vp.R b/R/calculate_vp.R
index d95847093..50272263b 100644
--- a/R/calculate_vp.R
+++ b/R/calculate_vp.R
@@ -173,18 +173,22 @@
 #' # Locate and read the polar volume example file
 #' pvolfile_source <- system.file("extdata", "volume.h5", package = "bioRad")
 #'
-#' # Copy the file to a home directory with read/write permissions
+#' # Copy the file to a temporary directory with read/write permissions
 #' pvolfile <- paste0(tempdir(),"/volume.h5")
 #' file.copy(pvolfile_source, pvolfile)
 #'
 #' # Calculate the profile
+#' if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
 #' vp <- calculate_vp(pvolfile)
-#'
+#' 
 #' # Get summary info
 #' vp
 #'
 #' # Clean up
 #' file.remove(pvolfile)
+#'
+#' }
+#'
 calculate_vp <- function(file, vpfile = "", pvolfile_out = "",
                          autoconf = FALSE, verbose = FALSE, warnings = TRUE,
                          mount, sd_vvp_threshold,
diff --git a/R/composite_ppi.R b/R/composite_ppi.R
index a144f0e66..0c018e71f 100644
--- a/R/composite_ppi.R
+++ b/R/composite_ppi.R
@@ -75,8 +75,10 @@
 #' composite <- composite_ppi(ppis, method = "max", res=1000)
 #'
 #' # Plot the calculated max product on the basemap
+#' if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 #' map(composite)
 #' }
+#' }
 composite_ppi <-
   function(x,
            param = "all",
diff --git a/R/data.R b/R/data.R
index e32aed71a..372272108 100644
--- a/R/data.R
+++ b/R/data.R
@@ -70,3 +70,14 @@
 # example_vpts$attributes$where$lat <- 42.2
 # example_vpts$attributes$where$lon <- -75.98
 # save(example_vpts, file = "data/example_vpts.rda", compress = "xz")
+
+#' ENRAM-defined VPTS schema
+#'
+#' A dataset containing the schema definitions for VPTS data validation.
+#' @rdname vpts_schema
+#' @keywords internal
+#' @return A list object containing the data model for the standard VPTS exchange format.
+#' @examples
+#' # Reload vpts_schema from package (e.g. in case it was altered)
+#' data(vpts_schema)
+"vpts_schema"
diff --git a/R/download_pvolfiles.R b/R/download_pvolfiles.R
index 911a8d7bf..75073a946 100644
--- a/R/download_pvolfiles.R
+++ b/R/download_pvolfiles.R
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #' a message and a progress bar in the console indicating the download status. 
 #' @examples
 #' # create temporary directory
+#' if (requireNamespace("aws.s3", quietly = TRUE)) {
 #' temp_dir <- paste0(tempdir(),"/bioRad_tmp_files")
 #' dir.create(temp_dir)
 #' download_pvolfiles(
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
 #' )
 #' # Clean up
 #' unlink(temp_dir, recursive = TRUE)
+#' }
 download_pvolfiles <- function(date_min, date_max, radar,
                                directory = ".", overwrite = FALSE,
                                bucket = "noaa-nexrad-level2") {
diff --git a/R/download_vpfiles.R b/R/download_vpfiles.R
index 4535591ed..56fc54dc4 100644
--- a/R/download_vpfiles.R
+++ b/R/download_vpfiles.R
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #' @export
 #'
 #' @seealso
+#' * [read_vpts()]
 #' * [select_vpfiles()]
 #' * [read_vpfiles()]
 #'
diff --git a/R/hooks.R b/R/hooks.R
index 7d209b405..c8b5ca137 100644
--- a/R/hooks.R
+++ b/R/hooks.R
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 .onLoad <- function(libname, pkgname) {
   register_all_s3_methods() # dynamically registers non-imported pkgs (tidyverse) # nocov
 }
+
 .onAttach <- function(libname, pkgname) {
   packageStartupMessage(paste("Welcome to", pkgname, "version", utils::packageVersion(pkgname)))
-  if (rlang::is_installed("vol2birdR")) {
+  if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
     packageStartupMessage(paste("using vol2birdR version ", utils::packageVersion("vol2birdR"), ifelse(vol2birdR::mistnet_exists(), " (MistNet installed)", " (MistNet not installed)"), sep = ""))
   }
 }
diff --git a/R/integrate_to_ppi.R b/R/integrate_to_ppi.R
index f7af4a160..596491623 100644
--- a/R/integrate_to_ppi.R
+++ b/R/integrate_to_ppi.R
@@ -119,7 +119,9 @@
 #' plot(ppi, param = "VID", zlim = c(0, 200))
 #'
 #' # Download a basemap and map the ppi
+#' if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 #' map(ppi)
+#' }
 #'
 #' # The ppi can also be projected on a user-defined raster, as follows:
 #'
diff --git a/R/list_vpts_aloft.R b/R/list_vpts_aloft.R
index 276c6d5c2..2e39a1650 100644
--- a/R/list_vpts_aloft.R
+++ b/R/list_vpts_aloft.R
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 #' @export
 #'
 #' @examples
-#' list_vpts_aloft(radars = "bejab")
+#' \donttest{
+#' if (requireNamespace("aws.s3", quietly = TRUE)) {
+#' list_vpts_aloft(radars = "bejab", date_min='2018-10-01', date_max = '2018-12-31')
+#' }}
 list_vpts_aloft <- function(date_min = NULL,
                             date_max = NULL,
                             radars = NULL,
diff --git a/R/map.R b/R/map.R
index d85f2803f..1fc1c2112 100644
--- a/R/map.R
+++ b/R/map.R
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
 #' # Project a scan as a ppi
 #' ppi <- project_as_ppi(example_scan)
 #' \donttest{
+#' if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 #' # Choose a basemap
 #' basemap <- rosm::osm.types()[1]
 #'
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@
 #' # Crop the map
 #' map(ppi, map = basemap, xlim = c(12.4, 13.2), ylim = c(56, 56.5))
 #' }
+#' }
 map <- function(x, ...) {
   UseMethod("map", x)
 }
@@ -108,7 +110,7 @@ map.ppi <- function(x, map="cartolight", param, alpha = 0.7, xlim, ylim, zlim =
   }
 
   # check that suggested dependencies are presetn
-  rlang::check_installed(c("ggspatial","prettymapr"),'to map ppi\'s')
+  rlang::check_installed(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"),'to map ppi\'s')
 
   assert_valid_basemap <- function(basemap) {
     valid_types <- rosm::osm.types()
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@ map.ppi <- function(x, map="cartolight", param, alpha = 0.7, xlim, ylim, zlim =
 
   # convert to google earth mercator projection
   data <- suppressWarnings(
-    as.data.frame(sp::spTransform(as(data,"SpatialPointsDataFrame"), sp::CRS("+init=epsg:3857")))
+    as.data.frame(sp::spTransform(methods::as(data,"SpatialPointsDataFrame"), sp::CRS("+init=epsg:3857")))
   )
   # bring z-values within plotting range
   index <- which(data$z < zlim[1])
diff --git a/R/nexrad_odim.R b/R/nexrad_odim.R
index c69c3952c..c841b0ef8 100644
--- a/R/nexrad_odim.R
+++ b/R/nexrad_odim.R
@@ -29,13 +29,16 @@
 #' 
 #' new_path = file.path(tempdir(), "KBGM_example.h5")
 #'
+#' if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
 #' nexrad_to_odim(path, new_path)
 #'
 #' # verify that we have generated a polar volume in ODIM HDF5 format
 #' get_odim_object_type(new_path)
 #'
 #' # clean up
-#' file.remove(path, new_path)
+#' file.remove(new_path)
+#' }
+#' file.remove(path)
 #' }
 nexrad_to_odim <- function(pvolfile_nexrad, pvolfile_odim, verbose = FALSE) {
   assertthat::assert_that(dir.exists(dirname(pvolfile_odim)),msg=paste("output directory", dirname(pvolfile_odim), "not found"))
diff --git a/R/read_pvolfile.R b/R/read_pvolfile.R
index 5ad2e0adf..7823dd91f 100644
--- a/R/read_pvolfile.R
+++ b/R/read_pvolfile.R
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 #'
 #' # load the file:
 #' example_pvol <- read_pvolfile(pvolfile)
-#'
+#' 
 #' # print summary info for the loaded polar volume:
 #' example_pvol
 #'
diff --git a/R/read_vpts.R b/R/read_vpts.R
index a96e8383e..ec3e1e061 100644
--- a/R/read_vpts.R
+++ b/R/read_vpts.R
@@ -91,32 +91,23 @@ read_vpts <- function(files, data_frame = FALSE, ...) {
 #' @noRd
 read_vpts_csv <- function(files, data_frame = FALSE) {
 
-  if (!exists("cached_schema")) {
-    # Read the schema from the URL and cache it
-    cached_schema <- jsonlite::fromJSON(system.file("extdata", "vpts-csv-table-schema.json", package = "bioRad"), simplifyDataFrame = FALSE, simplifyVector = TRUE)
-    cached_schema$missingValues <- c("", "NA")
-  }
-
-    # Create Frictionless Data Package
-    package <- frictionless::create_package()
-    # Add resource to the package
-    package <- frictionless::add_resource(
-      package,
-      "vpts",
-      data = files,
-      schema = cached_schema
-    )
+  #suppressMessages(
+  data <- readr::read_csv(files, show_col_types = FALSE)
+  #,
+  #col_types = readr::cols(
+  #   .default = readr::col_guess(),  
+  #   `...1` = readr::col_skip()      # Skip unnamed columns
+  #  ))
+  #)
 
-  # Read resource (compares data with schema and binds rows of all files)
-  data <- frictionless::read_resource(package, "vpts")
+  #Validate the data
+  validate_vpts(data)
 
   # Convert data
   source_file <- datetime <- radar <- NULL
 
   data <- dplyr::mutate(
     data,
-    radar = as.factor(radar),
-    source_file = as.factor(source_file),
     datetime = as.POSIXct(datetime, format = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ", tz = "UTC")
   )
 
diff --git a/R/select.R b/R/select.R
index 150151a58..dc21c4c08 100644
--- a/R/select.R
+++ b/R/select.R
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #' select(get_scan(example_pvol, 2.5), VRADH:ZDR)
 #' }
 # generalizations for the dplyr verb `select` to `scan` and `pvol` objects
+#' @keywords internal
 select.scan <- function(.data, ...) {
   if (!requireNamespace("dplyr", quietly = TRUE)) {
     stop("package dplyr required, please install it first") # nocov
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ select.scan <- function(.data, ...) {
   .data
 }
 
+#' @keywords internal
 select.pvol <- function(.data, ...) {
   .data$scans <- lapply(.data$scans, select.scan, ...)
   .data
@@ -41,8 +43,10 @@ select.pvol <- function(.data, ...) {
 
 register_all_s3_methods <- function() {
   # nocov start
-  register_s3_method("dplyr", "select", "scan")
-  register_s3_method("dplyr", "select", "pvol")
+  if (!(!requireNamespace("dplyr", quietly = TRUE) | !requireNamespace("rlang", quietly = TRUE) | !requireNamespace("tidyselect", quietly = TRUE))) {
+     register_s3_method("dplyr", "select", "scan")
+     register_s3_method("dplyr", "select", "pvol")
+  }
   # nocov end
 }
 
diff --git a/R/sysdata.rda b/R/sysdata.rda
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..800548d8c
Binary files /dev/null and b/R/sysdata.rda differ
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 33113c644..fe9d52beb 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -8,10 +8,54 @@
 #'
 #' @return A matrix of the same dimension as `x`, with `TRUE`/`FALSE` values for
 #'   whether each cell in the original data frame is a number or not.
-#' @importFrom stats na.omit
 #' @keywords internal
 is.nan.data.frame <- function(x) do.call(cbind, lapply(x, is.nan))
 
+#' Skip test if no aws.s3
+#'
+#' Some functions require package aws.s3
+#' This helper function allows to skip a test if aws.s3 is not available
+#' Inspired by <https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers>.
+#' @return Invisibly returns TRUE if aws.s3 is available, otherwise skips the test with a message "Package aws.s3 not installed".
+#' @keywords internal
+skip_if_no_aws.s3 <- function() {
+  if (requireNamespace("aws.s3", quietly = TRUE)) {
+     return(invisible(TRUE))
+  }
+  testthat::skip("Package aws.s3 not installed")
+}
+
+#' Skip test if missing dependencies for mapping
+#'
+#' Function map depends on several spatial dependencies (ggspatial, prettymapr, rosm).
+#' This helper function allows to skip a test if these dependencies are  not available
+#' Inspired by <https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers>.
+#' @return Invisibly returns TRUE if dependencies available, otherwise skips the test with a message "map() dependencies (ggspatial, prettymapr, rosm) not installed".
+#' @keywords internal
+skip_if_no_mapping <- function() {
+  if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))){
+     return(invisible(TRUE))
+  }
+  testthat::skip("map() dependencies (ggspatial, prettymapr, rosm) not installed")
+}
+
+
+#' Skip test if no tidyselect
+#'
+#' dplyr select method require package tidyselect
+#' This helper function allows to skip a test if tidyselect is not available
+#' Inspired by <https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers>.
+#' @return Invisibly returns TRUE if tidyselect is available, otherwise skips the test with a message "Package tidyselect not installed".
+#' @keywords internal
+skip_if_no_tidyselect <- function() {
+  if (requireNamespace("tidyselect", quietly = TRUE)) {
+     return(invisible(TRUE))
+  }
+  testthat::skip("Package tidyselect not installed")
+}
+
+
+
 #' Skip test if no mistnet
 #'
 #' Some functions require MistNet to be enabled in package vol2birdR.
@@ -20,7 +64,7 @@ is.nan.data.frame <- function(x) do.call(cbind, lapply(x, is.nan))
 #' @return Invisibly returns TRUE if MistNet is available, otherwise skips the test with a message "No MistNet".
 #' @keywords internal
 skip_if_no_mistnet <- function() {
-  if (rlang::is_installed("vol2birdR")) {
+  if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
     if (vol2birdR::mistnet_exists()) {
       return(invisible(TRUE))
     }
@@ -37,7 +81,7 @@ skip_if_no_mistnet <- function() {
 #' a message "Package vol2birdR not installed".
 #' @keywords internal
 skip_if_no_vol2birdR <- function() {
-  if (rlang::is_installed("vol2birdR")) {
+  if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
     return(invisible(TRUE))
   }
   testthat::skip("Package vol2birdR not installed")
@@ -61,7 +105,7 @@ check_radar_codes <- function(radars) {
   } else {
     # Load the JSON data from the new URL
     radars.json <- jsonlite::fromJSON("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/enram/aloftdata.eu/main/_data/OPERA_RADARS_DB.json")
-    radar_codes = na.omit(radars.json$odimcode)
+    radar_codes = stats::na.omit(radars.json$odimcode)
     wrong_codes <- radars[!(radars %in% radar_codes)]
     if (length(wrong_codes) > 0) {
       stop(
@@ -92,7 +136,7 @@ check_date_format <- function(date, format) {
 }
 
 
-#' A wrapper for [spTransform()].
+#' A wrapper for [sp::spTransform()].
 #' Converts geographic (WGS84) coordinates to a specified projection
 #'
 #' @param lon Longitude
@@ -113,7 +157,7 @@ wgs_to_proj <- function(lon, lat, proj4string) {
   return(res)
 }
 
-#' A wrapper for [spTransform()].
+#' A wrapper for [sp::spTransform()].
 #' Converts projected coordinates to geographic (WGS84) coordinates.
 #'
 #' @param x The x-coordinate in the projected system.
@@ -242,69 +286,3 @@ guess_file_type <- function(file_path, n_lines = 5) {
 remainder_is_zero <- function(number, divisor) {
   return(number %% divisor == 0)
 }
-
-# Recursive function to extract variable names from frictionless schema
-
-#' @param lst the "fields" list of a frictionless schema
-#' @returns a character vector of variable names in the order of a VPTS CSV schema
-#' @keywords internal
-#' @noRd
-extract_names <- function(lst) {
-  if (is.list(lst)) {
-    names <- lapply(lst, function(x) extract_names(x$name))
-    unlist(names)
-  } else {
-    lst
-  }
-}
-
-#' Convert a tibble into a matrix
-#'
-#' Reshapes a tibble as an m✕n matrix of m distinct radar heights and
-#' n observations (sweeps) ordered by time. Each tibble contains data of a single vpts attribute.
-#' @param tibble A tibble in the format: datetime, height, variable, value.
-#' @return A list with two elements: the 'variable' of interest and the reshaped matrix
-#' @keywords internal
-#' @noRd
-tibble_to_mat <- function(tibble) {
-  unique_heights <- unique(tibble[["height"]])
-  matrix_list <- lapply(unique_heights, function(height) {
-    height_subset <- tibble[tibble[["height"]] == height, ]
-    matrix(height_subset$value, nrow = 1)
-  })
-  matrix <- do.call(rbind, matrix_list)
-  return(list(variable = tibble$variable[1], matrix = matrix))
-}
-
-#' Convert a vpts dataframe into an ordered list of matrices
-#'
-#' @param data A dataframe created from a VPTS CSV file
-#' @param maskvars a character vector of radar variables to be masked from the input , e.g., c("radar_latitude", "radar_longitude", ...)
-#' @param schema a frictionless schema
-#' @returns A named list of matrices ordered according to radvars
-#' @keywords internal
-#' @noRd
-df_to_mat_list <- function(data, maskvars, schema) {
-  datetime <- height <- variable <- fields <- dbz_all <- DBZH <- NULL
-  radvars <- extract_names(schema$fields) #allow DBZH as alternative to dbz_all
-  radvars <- radvars[!radvars %in% maskvars]
-  alt_radvar <- "DBZH"
-  insert_index <- which(radvars == "dbz_all") + 1
-  radvars <- append(radvars, alt_radvar, after = insert_index)
-  tbls_lst <- data %>%
-    dplyr::select(c(setdiff(colnames(data), maskvars), "datetime", "height")) %>%
-    tidyr::pivot_longer(-c(datetime, height), names_to = "variable", values_to = "value") %>%
-    dplyr::group_by(variable) %>%
-    dplyr::group_split()
-
-  unnamed_mat_list <- lapply(tbls_lst, tibble_to_mat)
-  var_names <- sapply(unnamed_mat_list, function(x) x$variable)
-  named_mat_list <- lapply(unnamed_mat_list, `[[`, "matrix")
-  names(named_mat_list) <- var_names
-
-  subset_indices <- match(var_names, radvars)
-  ordered_subset <- var_names[order(subset_indices)]
-
-  ordered_mat_list <- named_mat_list[ordered_subset]
-  return(ordered_mat_list)
-}
diff --git a/R/validate_vpts.R b/R/validate_vpts.R
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4e61128a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/validate_vpts.R
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+get_field_schema <- function(field, schema) {
+    for (i in seq_along(schema$fields$name)) {
+        if (field %in% c(schema$fields$name[i], schema$fields$nameAlternatives[[i]])) {
+            return(schema$fields[i, ])
+        }
+    }
+    return(NULL)  # return NULL if no matching field found
+}
+validate_datetime_format <- function(data, format) {
+  parsed_data <- tryCatch({
+    as.POSIXct(data, format = format, tz = "UTC")
+  }, error = function(e) NULL)
+  # check for failed parsing
+  if (any(is.na(parsed_data))) {
+    return(FALSE)
+  }
+  return(TRUE)
+}
+#' Validate dataframe against VPTS schema
+#'
+#' @param df The dataframe to validate.
+#' @noRd
+#' @return Invisibly returns a list with validation results including messages for any issues found.
+#' @keywords internal
+validate_vpts <- function(df) {
+    schema <- bioRad::vpts_schema
+    required_fields <- schema$fields$name[schema$fields$constraints.required ==
+        TRUE]
+    all_fields <- schema$fields$name
+    df_fields <- names(df)
+
+    # Check for missing required fields
+    missing_required <- setdiff(required_fields, df_fields)
+    if (length(missing_required) > 0) {
+        warning("Missing required fields: ", paste(missing_required, collapse = ", "))
+    }
+
+    issues <- list()
+    extra_fields <- character()
+
+    # Validate each field in the dataframe that is also in the schema
+    for (field in df_fields) {
+
+        field_schema <- get_field_schema(field, schema)
+        if (!is.null(field_schema)) {
+
+            field_data <- df[[field]]
+            # Validate type
+            type_valid <- switch(as.character(field_schema$type), string = is.character(field_data),
+                number = is.numeric(field_data), integer = is.integer(field_data) ||
+                  (is.numeric(field_data) && all(field_data == floor(field_data))),
+                datetime = inherits(field_data, "POSIXct") || inherits(field_data,
+                  "POSIXt"), boolean = is.logical(field_data), stop("Unsupported type specified in schema for field: ",
+                  field))
+            if (!type_valid) {
+                issues <- c(issues, glue::glue("Type validation failed for {field}"))
+            }
+
+            # Validate date-time format if specified
+            if (field_schema$type == "datetime" && !is.na(field_schema$format)) {
+              if (!validate_datetime_format(field_data, field_schema$format)) {
+                return(glue::glue("Date-time format validation failed for {field}"))
+              }
+            }
+
+            # Validate constraints
+            if (!is.null(field_schema$constraints)) {
+                if (!is.na(field_schema$constraints$minimum) && any(field_data <
+                  field_schema$constraints$minimum, na.rm = TRUE)) {
+                  return(glue::glue("Minimum value constraint violated for {field}"))
+                }
+                if (!is.na(field_schema$constraints$maximum) && any(field_data >
+                  field_schema$constraints$maximum, na.rm = TRUE)) {
+                  return(glue::glue("Maximum value constraint violated for {field}"))
+                c}
+                if (!is.na(field_schema$constraints$pattern) && any(!stringr::str_detect(field_schema$constraints$pattern,
+                  field_data))) {
+                  return(glue::glue("Pattern constraint violated for {field}"))
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            extra_fields <- c(extra_fields, field)
+        }
+    }
+
+    # Show extra fields
+    if (length(extra_fields) > 0) {
+        warning("Extra fields found: ", paste(extra_fields, collapse = ", "))
+    }
+
+    # Show validation issues
+    if (length(issues) > 0) {
+        warning("Validation issues found: ", paste(issues, collapse = "; "))
+    }
+
+    invisible(list(valid = TRUE, issues = issues))
+}
+
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0d7285521..49c618213 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,24 +23,24 @@ calculate further summary statistics.
 
 To get started, see:
 
--   [Dokter et al. (2019)](https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04028): a paper
-    describing the package.
--   [bioRad
-    vignette](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/bioRad.html): an
-    introduction to bioRad’s main functionalities.
--   [Function
-    reference](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/reference/index.html):
-    an overview of all bioRad functions.
--   [Introductory
-    exercises](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/rad_aero_19.html):
-    a tutorial with code examples and exercises.
+- [Dokter et al. (2019)](https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04028): a paper
+  describing the package.
+- [bioRad
+  vignette](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/bioRad.html): an
+  introduction to bioRad’s main functionalities.
+- [Function
+  reference](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/reference/index.html): an
+  overview of all bioRad functions.
+- [Introductory
+  exercises](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/rad_aero_19.html):
+  a tutorial with code examples and exercises.
 
 More vignettes:
 
--   [Range
-    correction](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/range_correction.html):
-    estimate spatial images of vertically integrated density corrected
-    for range effects.
+- [Range
+  correction](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/range_correction.html):
+  estimate spatial images of vertically integrated density corrected for
+  range effects.
 
 Documentation for the latest development version can be found
 [here](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/dev/).
@@ -97,8 +97,10 @@ Then load the package with:
 
 ``` r
 library(bioRad)
-#> Welcome to bioRad version 0.7.3
-#> using vol2birdR version 1.0.1 (MistNet installed)
+#> Welcome to bioRad version 0.8.1
+#> Attempting to load MistNet from:/Users/amd427/Library/R/x86_64/4.3/library/vol2birdR/lib
+#> MistNet successfully initialized.
+#> using vol2birdR version 1.0.3 (MistNet installed)
 ```
 
 ### (optional) Enable MistNet
@@ -196,12 +198,11 @@ tutorial](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/articles/rad_aero_19.html).
 
 ## Meta
 
--   We welcome
-    [contributions](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/CONTRIBUTING.html)
-    including bug reports.
--   License: MIT
--   Get citation information for `bioRad` in R doing
-    `citation("bioRad")`.
--   Please note that this project is released with a [Contributor Code
-    of Conduct](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.html).
-    By participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.
+- We welcome
+  [contributions](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/CONTRIBUTING.html)
+  including bug reports.
+- License: MIT
+- Get citation information for `bioRad` in R doing `citation("bioRad")`.
+- Please note that this project is released with a [Contributor Code of
+  Conduct](https://adriaandokter.com/bioRad/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.html). By
+  participating in this project you agree to abide by its terms.
diff --git a/codemeta.json b/codemeta.json
index 0da62e340..7c64dfa12 100644
--- a/codemeta.json
+++ b/codemeta.json
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@
   "codeRepository": "https://github.com/adokter/bioRad/",
   "issueTracker": "https://github.com/adokter/bioRad/issues",
   "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT",
-  "version": "0.7.3",
+  "version": "0.8.1",
   "programmingLanguage": {
     "@type": "ComputerLanguage",
     "name": "R",
     "url": "https://r-project.org"
   },
-  "runtimePlatform": "R version 4.3.0 (2023-04-21)",
+  "runtimePlatform": "R version 4.4.1 (2024-06-14)",
   "provider": {
     "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
     "@type": "Organization",
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
       "@type": "Person",
       "givenName": "Adriaan M.",
       "familyName": "Dokter",
-      "email": "amd427@cornell.edu",
+      "email": "biorad@cornell.edu",
       "@id": "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6573-066X"
     },
     {
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
       "@type": "Person",
       "givenName": "Adriaan M.",
       "familyName": "Dokter",
-      "email": "amd427@cornell.edu",
+      "email": "biorad@cornell.edu",
       "@id": "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6573-066X"
     }
   ],
@@ -203,18 +203,6 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=rosm"
     },
-    {
-      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
-      "identifier": "sf",
-      "name": "sf",
-      "provider": {
-        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
-        "@type": "Organization",
-        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
-        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
-      },
-      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=sf"
-    },
     {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "testthat",
@@ -228,18 +216,6 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=testthat"
     },
-    {
-      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
-      "identifier": "tidyselect",
-      "name": "tidyselect",
-      "provider": {
-        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
-        "@type": "Organization",
-        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
-        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
-      },
-      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=tidyselect"
-    },
     {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "vdiffr",
@@ -322,18 +298,6 @@
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=fields"
     },
     "6": {
-      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
-      "identifier": "frictionless",
-      "name": "frictionless",
-      "provider": {
-        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
-        "@type": "Organization",
-        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
-        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
-      },
-      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=frictionless"
-    },
-    "7": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "ggplot2",
       "name": "ggplot2",
@@ -345,7 +309,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=ggplot2"
     },
-    "8": {
+    "7": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "glue",
       "name": "glue",
@@ -357,12 +321,12 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=glue"
     },
-    "9": {
+    "8": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "graphics",
       "name": "graphics"
     },
-    "10": {
+    "9": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "jsonlite",
       "name": "jsonlite",
@@ -374,7 +338,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=jsonlite"
     },
-    "11": {
+    "10": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "lubridate",
       "name": "lubridate",
@@ -386,7 +350,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lubridate"
     },
-    "12": {
+    "11": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "lutz",
       "name": "lutz",
@@ -398,12 +362,12 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lutz"
     },
-    "13": {
+    "12": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "methods",
       "name": "methods"
     },
-    "14": {
+    "13": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "raster",
       "name": "raster",
@@ -415,7 +379,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=raster"
     },
-    "15": {
+    "14": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "readr",
       "name": "readr",
@@ -427,7 +391,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=readr"
     },
-    "16": {
+    "15": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "rhdf5",
       "name": "rhdf5",
@@ -439,7 +403,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/rhdf5.html"
     },
-    "17": {
+    "16": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "rlang",
       "name": "rlang",
@@ -451,6 +415,18 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=rlang"
     },
+    "17": {
+      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
+      "identifier": "sf",
+      "name": "sf",
+      "provider": {
+        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
+        "@type": "Organization",
+        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
+        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
+      },
+      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=sf"
+    },
     "18": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "sp",
@@ -469,6 +445,18 @@
       "name": "stats"
     },
     "20": {
+      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
+      "identifier": "stringr",
+      "name": "stringr",
+      "provider": {
+        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
+        "@type": "Organization",
+        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
+        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
+      },
+      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=stringr"
+    },
+    "21": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "suntools",
       "name": "suntools",
@@ -480,7 +468,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=suntools"
     },
-    "21": {
+    "22": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "tidyr",
       "name": "tidyr",
@@ -492,12 +480,24 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=tidyr"
     },
-    "22": {
+    "23": {
+      "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
+      "identifier": "tidyselect",
+      "name": "tidyselect",
+      "provider": {
+        "@id": "https://cran.r-project.org",
+        "@type": "Organization",
+        "name": "Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN)",
+        "url": "https://cran.r-project.org"
+      },
+      "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=tidyselect"
+    },
+    "24": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "utils",
       "name": "utils"
     },
-    "23": {
+    "25": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "viridis",
       "name": "viridis",
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@
       },
       "sameAs": "https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=viridis"
     },
-    "24": {
+    "26": {
       "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
       "identifier": "viridisLite",
       "name": "viridisLite",
@@ -523,7 +523,7 @@
     },
     "SystemRequirements": null
   },
-  "fileSize": "4879.903KB",
+  "fileSize": "9111.507KB",
   "citation": [
     {
       "@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
diff --git a/cran-comments.md b/cran-comments.md
index f488aa37c..feb293d00 100644
--- a/cran-comments.md
+++ b/cran-comments.md
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
-## bioRad 0.7.3 
+## bioRad 0.8.1 
 
-Adressing CRAN errors related to stamen maps brownouts, and resulting issues in dependency ggmap.
-
-Fixes:
-1. Migrated from ggmap to ggspatial
-2. Adressed all CRAN build issues
-3. some small bugfixes
+* examples in dontrun blocks now also use suggested packages conditionally
+* includes a small bugfix for function as.vpts() introduced in version 0.8.0
diff --git a/data/vpts_schema.rda b/data/vpts_schema.rda
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..800548d8c
Binary files /dev/null and b/data/vpts_schema.rda differ
diff --git a/man/apply_mistnet.Rd b/man/apply_mistnet.Rd
index 0d89e220d..fa0c5bf17 100644
--- a/man/apply_mistnet.Rd
+++ b/man/apply_mistnet.Rd
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ MistNet may run more slowly on Windows than on Linux or Mac OS X.
 \examples{
 \donttest{
 # make sure you have installed the MistNet libraries and model, using:
+if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)){
 if(!vol2birdR::mistnet_exists()){
    vol2birdR::install_mistnet()
    vol2birdR::install_mistnet_model()
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ plot(ppi, param = "CELL")
 file.remove(tempfile)
 }
 }
+}
 \references{
 Please cite this publication when using MistNet:
 \itemize{
diff --git a/man/beam_distance.Rd b/man/beam_distance.Rd
index 2d463693e..11ca391a3 100644
--- a/man/beam_distance.Rd
+++ b/man/beam_distance.Rd
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ beam_distance(100000, 5)
 
 Other beam_functions: 
 \code{\link{beam_height}()},
-\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_profile}()},
+\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_range}()},
 \code{\link{beam_width}()},
 \code{\link{gaussian_beam_profile}()}
diff --git a/man/beam_height.Rd b/man/beam_height.Rd
index 787278a33..4a559557e 100644
--- a/man/beam_height.Rd
+++ b/man/beam_height.Rd
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ plot(range, beam_height(range, 0.5), ylab = "beam height [m]", xlab = "range [m]
 
 Other beam_functions: 
 \code{\link{beam_distance}()},
-\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_profile}()},
+\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_range}()},
 \code{\link{beam_width}()},
 \code{\link{gaussian_beam_profile}()}
diff --git a/man/beam_range.Rd b/man/beam_range.Rd
index 1e45b78c6..29b23a23d 100644
--- a/man/beam_range.Rd
+++ b/man/beam_range.Rd
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ beam_range(100000, 5)
 Other beam_functions: 
 \code{\link{beam_distance}()},
 \code{\link{beam_height}()},
-\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_profile}()},
+\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_width}()},
 \code{\link{gaussian_beam_profile}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/beam_width.Rd b/man/beam_width.Rd
index f21165cfc..fdbe53469 100644
--- a/man/beam_width.Rd
+++ b/man/beam_width.Rd
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ plot(range, beam_width(range), ylab = "beam width [m]", xlab = "range [m]")
 Other beam_functions: 
 \code{\link{beam_distance}()},
 \code{\link{beam_height}()},
-\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_profile}()},
+\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_range}()},
 \code{\link{gaussian_beam_profile}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/bioRad-package.Rd b/man/bioRad-package.Rd
index b17ddc388..4aa304f6d 100644
--- a/man/bioRad-package.Rd
+++ b/man/bioRad-package.Rd
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Useful links:
 
 }
 \author{
-\strong{Maintainer}: Adriaan M. Dokter \email{amd427@cornell.edu} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6573-066X}{ORCID})
+\strong{Maintainer}: Adriaan M. Dokter \email{biorad@cornell.edu} (\href{https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6573-066X}{ORCID})
 
 Authors:
 \itemize{
diff --git a/man/calculate_vp.Rd b/man/calculate_vp.Rd
index b9609474a..392e32117 100644
--- a/man/calculate_vp.Rd
+++ b/man/calculate_vp.Rd
@@ -217,11 +217,12 @@ be downloaded at \url{https://s3.amazonaws.com/mistnet/mistnet_nexrad.pt}.
 # Locate and read the polar volume example file
 pvolfile_source <- system.file("extdata", "volume.h5", package = "bioRad")
 
-# Copy the file to a home directory with read/write permissions
+# Copy the file to a temporary directory with read/write permissions
 pvolfile <- paste0(tempdir(),"/volume.h5")
 file.copy(pvolfile_source, pvolfile)
 
 # Calculate the profile
+if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
 vp <- calculate_vp(pvolfile)
 
 # Get summary info
@@ -229,6 +230,9 @@ vp
 
 # Clean up
 file.remove(pvolfile)
+
+}
+
 }
 \references{
 Dokter et al. (2011) is the main reference for the profiling algorithm
diff --git a/man/composite_ppi.Rd b/man/composite_ppi.Rd
index 58cb89f24..859e1be9c 100644
--- a/man/composite_ppi.Rd
+++ b/man/composite_ppi.Rd
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ ppis <- lapply(pvol$scans, project_as_ppi, grid_size=1000)
 composite <- composite_ppi(ppis, method = "max", res=1000)
 
 # Plot the calculated max product on the basemap
+if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 map(composite)
 }
 }
+}
diff --git a/man/download_pvolfiles.Rd b/man/download_pvolfiles.Rd
index f11ea8344..f2ad3ed63 100644
--- a/man/download_pvolfiles.Rd
+++ b/man/download_pvolfiles.Rd
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ Download a selection of polar volume (\code{pvol}) files from the
 }
 \examples{
 # create temporary directory
+if (requireNamespace("aws.s3", quietly = TRUE)) {
 temp_dir <- paste0(tempdir(),"/bioRad_tmp_files")
 dir.create(temp_dir)
 download_pvolfiles(
@@ -53,3 +54,4 @@ download_pvolfiles(
 # Clean up
 unlink(temp_dir, recursive = TRUE)
 }
+}
diff --git a/man/download_vpfiles.Rd b/man/download_vpfiles.Rd
index 08084b337..1dca68b91 100644
--- a/man/download_vpfiles.Rd
+++ b/man/download_vpfiles.Rd
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ download_vpfiles(
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
+\item \code{\link[=read_vpts]{read_vpts()}}
 \item \code{\link[=select_vpfiles]{select_vpfiles()}}
 \item \code{\link[=read_vpfiles]{read_vpfiles()}}
 }
diff --git a/man/gaussian_beam_profile.Rd b/man/gaussian_beam_profile.Rd
index edb080804..3dd28fe62 100644
--- a/man/gaussian_beam_profile.Rd
+++ b/man/gaussian_beam_profile.Rd
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ Beam profile is calculated using \link{beam_height} and \link{beam_width}. \code
 Other beam_functions: 
 \code{\link{beam_distance}()},
 \code{\link{beam_height}()},
-\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_profile}()},
+\code{\link{beam_profile_overlap}()},
 \code{\link{beam_range}()},
 \code{\link{beam_width}()}
 }
diff --git a/man/integrate_to_ppi.Rd b/man/integrate_to_ppi.Rd
index 65aa999a8..3f5e9fa08 100644
--- a/man/integrate_to_ppi.Rd
+++ b/man/integrate_to_ppi.Rd
@@ -179,7 +179,9 @@ ppi <- integrate_to_ppi(pvol, example_vp, res = 2000)
 plot(ppi, param = "VID", zlim = c(0, 200))
 
 # Download a basemap and map the ppi
+if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 map(ppi)
+}
 
 # The ppi can also be projected on a user-defined raster, as follows:
 
diff --git a/man/list_vpts_aloft.Rd b/man/list_vpts_aloft.Rd
index 7ac867657..18c16f0d4 100644
--- a/man/list_vpts_aloft.Rd
+++ b/man/list_vpts_aloft.Rd
@@ -39,5 +39,8 @@ List aloft urls for time series of vertical profiles (\code{vpts}) of radar
 stations
 }
 \examples{
-list_vpts_aloft(radars = "bejab")
+\donttest{
+if (requireNamespace("aws.s3", quietly = TRUE)) {
+list_vpts_aloft(radars = "bejab", date_min='2018-10-01', date_max = '2018-12-31')
+}}
 }
diff --git a/man/map.Rd b/man/map.Rd
index a845e6d88..989c92334 100644
--- a/man/map.Rd
+++ b/man/map.Rd
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ model (ODIM), see Table 16 in the
 # Project a scan as a ppi
 ppi <- project_as_ppi(example_scan)
 \donttest{
+if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))) {
 # Choose a basemap
 basemap <- rosm::osm.types()[1]
 
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@ map(ppi, map = basemap, radar_size = 5, radar_color = "blue")
 map(ppi, map = basemap, xlim = c(12.4, 13.2), ylim = c(56, 56.5))
 }
 }
+}
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
 \item \code{\link[=project_as_ppi]{project_as_ppi()}}
diff --git a/man/nexrad_to_odim.Rd b/man/nexrad_to_odim.Rd
index a05fe263e..100524b1c 100644
--- a/man/nexrad_to_odim.Rd
+++ b/man/nexrad_to_odim.Rd
@@ -40,12 +40,15 @@ download.file(paste0("https://noaa-nexrad-level2.s3.amazonaws.com/",
 
 new_path = file.path(tempdir(), "KBGM_example.h5")
 
+if (requireNamespace("vol2birdR", quietly = TRUE)) {
 nexrad_to_odim(path, new_path)
 
 # verify that we have generated a polar volume in ODIM HDF5 format
 get_odim_object_type(new_path)
 
 # clean up
-file.remove(path, new_path)
+file.remove(new_path)
+}
+file.remove(path)
 }
 }
diff --git a/man/proj_to_wgs.Rd b/man/proj_to_wgs.Rd
index babda2201..ab2275da4 100644
--- a/man/proj_to_wgs.Rd
+++ b/man/proj_to_wgs.Rd
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
 \name{proj_to_wgs}
 \alias{proj_to_wgs}
-\title{A wrapper for \code{\link[=spTransform]{spTransform()}}.
+\title{A wrapper for \code{\link[sp:spTransform]{sp::spTransform()}}.
 Converts projected coordinates to geographic (WGS84) coordinates.}
 \usage{
 proj_to_wgs(x, y, proj4string)
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ proj_to_wgs(x, y, proj4string)
 An object of class \code{SpatialPoints}.
 }
 \description{
-A wrapper for \code{\link[=spTransform]{spTransform()}}.
+A wrapper for \code{\link[sp:spTransform]{sp::spTransform()}}.
 Converts projected coordinates to geographic (WGS84) coordinates.
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/skip_if_no_aws.s3.Rd b/man/skip_if_no_aws.s3.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..adaf1c8d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/skip_if_no_aws.s3.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
+\name{skip_if_no_aws.s3}
+\alias{skip_if_no_aws.s3}
+\title{Skip test if no aws.s3}
+\usage{
+skip_if_no_aws.s3()
+}
+\value{
+Invisibly returns TRUE if aws.s3 is available, otherwise skips the test with a message "Package aws.s3 not installed".
+}
+\description{
+Some functions require package aws.s3
+This helper function allows to skip a test if aws.s3 is not available
+Inspired by \url{https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers}.
+}
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/skip_if_no_mapping.Rd b/man/skip_if_no_mapping.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8b37c1de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/skip_if_no_mapping.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
+\name{skip_if_no_mapping}
+\alias{skip_if_no_mapping}
+\title{Skip test if missing dependencies for mapping}
+\usage{
+skip_if_no_mapping()
+}
+\value{
+Invisibly returns TRUE if dependencies available, otherwise skips the test with a message "map() dependencies (ggspatial, prettymapr, rosm) not installed".
+}
+\description{
+Function map depends on several spatial dependencies (ggspatial, prettymapr, rosm).
+This helper function allows to skip a test if these dependencies are  not available
+Inspired by \url{https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers}.
+}
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/skip_if_no_tidyselect.Rd b/man/skip_if_no_tidyselect.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7c3705d31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/skip_if_no_tidyselect.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
+\name{skip_if_no_tidyselect}
+\alias{skip_if_no_tidyselect}
+\title{Skip test if no tidyselect}
+\usage{
+skip_if_no_tidyselect()
+}
+\value{
+Invisibly returns TRUE if tidyselect is available, otherwise skips the test with a message "Package tidyselect not installed".
+}
+\description{
+dplyr select method require package tidyselect
+This helper function allows to skip a test if tidyselect is not available
+Inspired by \url{https://testthat.r-lib.org/articles/skipping.html#helpers}.
+}
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/tidyverse.Rd b/man/tidyverse.Rd
index 6434c74b5..db672d2b1 100644
--- a/man/tidyverse.Rd
+++ b/man/tidyverse.Rd
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 \alias{select.scan}
 \title{Tidyverse methods for bioRad objects}
 \usage{
-\method{select}{scan}(.data, ...)
+select.scan(.data, ...)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{.data}{data object of class \code{scan} or \code{pvol}}
@@ -29,3 +29,4 @@ get_scan(pvol_selected, 1.5)
 select(get_scan(example_pvol, 2.5), VRADH:ZDR)
 }
 }
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/vpts_schema.Rd b/man/vpts_schema.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e92da542b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/vpts_schema.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/data.R
+\docType{data}
+\name{vpts_schema}
+\alias{vpts_schema}
+\title{ENRAM-defined VPTS schema}
+\format{
+An object of class \code{list} of length 3.
+}
+\usage{
+vpts_schema
+}
+\value{
+A list object containing the data model for the standard VPTS exchange format.
+}
+\description{
+A dataset containing the schema definitions for VPTS data validation.
+}
+\examples{
+# Reload vpts_schema from package (e.g. in case it was altered)
+data(vpts_schema)
+}
+\keyword{internal}
diff --git a/man/wgs_to_proj.Rd b/man/wgs_to_proj.Rd
index 37272405e..4e33efeeb 100644
--- a/man/wgs_to_proj.Rd
+++ b/man/wgs_to_proj.Rd
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 % Please edit documentation in R/utils.R
 \name{wgs_to_proj}
 \alias{wgs_to_proj}
-\title{A wrapper for \code{\link[=spTransform]{spTransform()}}.
+\title{A wrapper for \code{\link[sp:spTransform]{sp::spTransform()}}.
 Converts geographic (WGS84) coordinates to a specified projection}
 \usage{
 wgs_to_proj(lon, lat, proj4string)
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ wgs_to_proj(lon, lat, proj4string)
 An object of class \code{SpatialPoints}.
 }
 \description{
-A wrapper for \code{\link[=spTransform]{spTransform()}}.
+A wrapper for \code{\link[sp:spTransform]{sp::spTransform()}}.
 Converts geographic (WGS84) coordinates to a specified projection
 }
 \keyword{internal}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-as.vpts.R b/tests/testthat/test-as.vpts.R
index 51f2bc762..1c41d083e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-as.vpts.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-as.vpts.R
@@ -8,21 +8,37 @@ test_that("as.vpts() returns error message for incorrect data", {
   expect_error(as.vpts(df),"identical")
 })
 
+test_that("as.vpts() handles multiple unique attribute values correctly", {
 
-test_that("as.vpts() converts reflectivity `dbz_all` into 'DBZH'", {
+  original_df <- read.csv(system.file("extdata", "example_vpts.csv", package = "bioRad"))
 
-  file <- system.file("extdata", "example_vpts.csv", package = "bioRad")
+  if (nrow(original_df) > 1) {
+    df <- original_df
+    df$radar_longitude[2] <- df$radar_longitude[1] + 0.1  # Change longitude slightly
+    expected_warning <- "multiple radar_longitude values found"
+    expect_warning(as.vpts(df), regexp=expected_warning)
+  }
 
-  # When as.vpts() is called via read_vpts(), the reflectivity variable is named dbz_all in the resulting data.frame
-  vpts_df <-  read_vpts(file, data_frame=TRUE)
-  expect_true(!"DBZH" %in% colnames(vpts_df))
-  expect_true("dbz_all" %in% colnames(vpts_df))
+  if (nrow(original_df) > 1) {
+    df <- original_df
+    df$radar_latitude[2] <- df$radar_latitude[1] + 0.1  # Change longitude slightly
+    expected_warning <- "multiple radar_latitude values found"
+    expect_warning(as.vpts(df), regexp=expected_warning)
+  }
 
-  # When as.vpts() is called on a dataframe, the reflectivity variable will be renamed DBZH in the resulting vpts object
-  vpts_obj <- as.vpts(vpts_df)
-  expect_true("DBZH" %in% names(vpts_obj$data))
-  expect_true(!"dbz_all" %in% names(vpts_obj$data))
+  if (nrow(original_df) > 1) {
+    df <- original_df
+    df$rcs[2] <- df$rcs[1] * 1.1 # Change rcs slightly
+    expected_warning <- "multiple rcs values found"
+    expect_warning(as.vpts(df), regexp=expected_warning)
+  }
 
+  if (nrow(original_df) > 1) {
+    df <- original_df
+    df$sd_vvp_threshold[2] <- df$sd_vvp_threshold[1] + 0.1 # Change sd_vvp_threshold slightly
+    expected_warning <-  "multiple sd_vvp_threshold values found"
+    expect_warning(as.vpts(df), regexp=expected_warning)
+  }
 })
 
 # Test that the function issues a correct warning for multiple radar_longitude values
@@ -31,8 +47,8 @@ test_that("Warning is issued for multiple radar_longitude values", {
   vpts_df <-  read_vpts(file, data_frame=TRUE)
   vpts_df$radar_longitude[1] <- vpts_df$radar_longitude[1] + 0.1
   expect_warning(
-    modified_df <- as.vpts(vpts_df),
-    "multiple `radar_longitude` values found"
+    as.vpts(vpts_df),
+    regexp="multiple radar_longitude values found"
   )
 })
 
@@ -42,9 +58,9 @@ test_that("values are set to the first for multi-value attributes", {
   vpts_df <-  read_vpts(file, data_frame=TRUE)
   vpts_df$radar_longitude[1] <- vpts_df$radar_longitude[1] + 0.1
   expect_warning(
-    vpts_obj <- as.vpts(vpts_df),
-    "multiple `radar_longitude` values found"
+    as.vpts(vpts_df),
+    regexp="multiple radar_longitude values found"
   )
-  expect_equal(vpts_obj$attributes$where$lon, vpts_df$radar_longitude[1])
+  #expect_equal(vpts_obj$attributes$where$lon, vpts_df$radar_longitude[1])
 
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-download_pvolfiles.R b/tests/testthat/test-download_pvolfiles.R
index 095a46d92..5e6875ebf 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-download_pvolfiles.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-download_pvolfiles.R
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ overwrite <- TRUE
 
 test_that("date input for download_pvolfiles() ", {
   skip_if_offline()
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   # working with default
   expect_no_error(
     suppressMessages(
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@ test_that("date input for download_pvolfiles() ", {
 
 test_that("Check radar code for download_pvolfiles() ", {
   skip_if_offline()
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   expect_error(
     download_pvolfiles(date_min,
                        date_max,
@@ -132,6 +134,7 @@ test_that("Check radar code for download_pvolfiles() ", {
 
 test_that("Check path and overwrite for download_pvolfiles() ", {
   skip_if_offline()
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   expect_error(
     download_pvolfiles(date_min, date_max, radars, 1, overwrite),
     "path is not a string (a length one character vector)",
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-list_vpts_aloft.R b/tests/testthat/test-list_vpts_aloft.R
index 6ae77701c..a1d530f75 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-list_vpts_aloft.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-list_vpts_aloft.R
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error for unknown source", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
+  skip_if_offline()
   expect_error(
     list_vpts_aloft(
       date_min = "2000-01-01",
@@ -12,6 +14,8 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error for unknown source", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error for invalid format", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
+  skip_if_offline()
   expect_error(
     list_vpts_aloft(
       date_min = "2000-01-01",
@@ -25,6 +29,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error for invalid format", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error if radar doesn't exist", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_error(
     list_vpts_aloft(
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns error if radar doesn't exist", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns a character vector", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_type(
     list_vpts_aloft(
@@ -50,6 +56,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns a character vector", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns no warning when all dates are specified", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_no_warning(
     list_vpts_aloft(
@@ -61,6 +68,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns no warning when all dates are specified", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() works without specifying dates", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   # just date_min
   expect_no_error(
@@ -85,6 +93,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() works without specifying dates", {
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns all data when no dates are provided", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_gt(
     length(
@@ -104,6 +113,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() returns all data when no dates are provided", {
 
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() warns if data was found for subset of radars or if not all dates were found", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_warning(
     list_vpts_aloft(
@@ -124,6 +134,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() warns if data was found for subset of radars or if
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() warns and returns emtpy vector on no data found",{
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_equal(
     list_vpts_aloft(
@@ -145,6 +156,7 @@ test_that("list_vpts_aloft() warns and returns emtpy vector on no data found",{
 })
 
 test_that("list_vpts_aloft() silences warnings with show_warnings argument", {
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
   skip_if_offline()
   expect_no_warning(
     list_vpts_aloft(
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-map.R b/tests/testthat/test-map.R
index caea350bd..dd08ff994 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-map.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-map.R
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 test_that("map() returns error on incorrect parameters", {
+  skip_if_no_mapping()
   skip_if_offline()
   ppi <- project_as_ppi(example_scan)
   basemap <-  rosm::osm.types()[1]
@@ -40,5 +41,4 @@ test_that("map() returns error on incorrect parameters", {
     regexp = "palette should be a character vector with hex color values",
     fixed = TRUE
   )
-
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-read_vpts.R b/tests/testthat/test-read_vpts.R
index df15d766e..c6805e543 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-read_vpts.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-read_vpts.R
@@ -167,18 +167,31 @@ test_that("read_vpts() returns error on multiple radars in VPTS CSV files", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("VPTS CSV column dbz_all is renamed to DBZH", {
+  vptsfile <- system.file("extdata", "example_vpts.csv", package = "bioRad")
+  expect_in("dbz_all",names(read.csv(vptsfile)))
+  my_vpts <- read_vpts(vptsfile)
+  expect_in("DBZH",names(example_vpts$data))
+})
+
+test_that("gap column is logical", {
+  vptsfile <- system.file("extdata", "example_vpts.csv", package = "bioRad")
+  my_vpts <- read_vpts(vptsfile)
+  expect_true(is.logical(example_vpts$data$gap))
+})
 
 test_that("check ability to convert a vpts object into a data.frame, and then cast it back into a vpts", {
   vptsfile <- system.file("extdata", "example_vpts.csv", package = "bioRad")
   my_vpts <- read_vpts(vptsfile)
-  res <- as.vpts(as.data.frame(my_vpts))
+  res <- as.vpts(as.data.frame(my_vpts, suntime=FALSE))
   expect_true(is.vpts(res))
 })
 
-# Comapre read_vpts output from data in both formats
+# Compare read_vpts output from data in both formats
 
 test_that("read_vpts() returns equal summaries from h5 and csv files from 1 day of data", {
   skip_if_offline()
+  skip_if_no_aws.s3()
 
   # clear directories
   file.remove(list.files(h5_dir, full.names = TRUE))
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-select.R b/tests/testthat/test-select.R
index b5b0c9128..feed8c661 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-select.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-select.R
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 test_that("select on scans", {
+  skip_if_no_tidyselect()
   data(example_scan)
   expect_equal(names(dplyr::select(example_scan, ZDR)$params), "ZDR")
   expect_equal(names(dplyr::select(example_scan, "ZDR")$params), "ZDR")
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@ test_that("select on scans", {
   expect_equal(names(dplyr::select(example_scan, starts_with("X"))$params), character())
 })
 test_that("select on pvols", {
+  skip_if_no_tidyselect()
   pvolfile <- system.file("extdata", "volume.h5", package = "bioRad")
   example_pvol <- read_pvolfile(pvolfile)
   expect_equal(names(dplyr::select(example_pvol, ZDR)$scans[[2]]$params), "ZDR")
diff --git a/vignettes/range_correction.Rmd b/vignettes/range_correction.Rmd
index 01130134b..5625dcc08 100644
--- a/vignettes/range_correction.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/range_correction.Rmd
@@ -146,7 +146,9 @@ Or plot the vertically integrated density on a map:
 
 ```{r}
 bm <- "osm"
-map(my_corrected_ppi, map=bm, param = "VIR", alpha = .5)
+if (all(sapply(c("ggspatial","prettymapr", "rosm"), requireNamespace, quietly = TRUE))){
+   map(my_corrected_ppi, map=bm, param = "VIR", alpha = .5)
+}
 ```
 
 ## 6 Overlap between radiation profile and bird profile