Overview of Automated QA - March 1998

Below is an overview from Mark Shafer of the automated quality
assurance results for the March 1998 Oklahoma Mesonet data.


The QA flags seemed pretty reliable this month.  I noticed that several
sites RELH was flagged by our persistence routine on the 15th - 16th
(BEAV, SLAP; CHEY, NINN, WATO).  Because there were a number of sites
and were in a reasonably coherent geographic configuration, I think
these flags are probably false.  The only other notable feature was a
few flags for ALVA TB05 from the 20th - 22nd.  These did not warrant a
trouble-ticket, although we are keeping a close watch on it.

One other item of note, our Tullahassee Mesonet site was picked clean by
vandals on the 29th.  They even climbed the tower to steal the wind
monitor and dug up our soil temperature probes!  The instruments were
replaced on April 8th (some were not available until May 12), so the
down time wasn't too bad.  The event is properly flagged in the QA
files.

>        OKLAHOMA MESONETWORK QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORT
>        for the month of March, 1998
>
>        Based upon observations taken at 1800 UTC each day
>
>        Prepared by Chris Fiebrich (chris@mesnet.mesonet.ou.edu)
>
> ================================================================================
>
> March was a busy month for the Mesonet technicians.  Lightning caused damage
> to the stations at Fairview and Eufaula.  The T/RH and SRAD sensors were
> hardest hit at Fairview, while the damage at Eufaula was mainly confined to
> the soil moisture sensors.
>
> Vandalism at the Tullahassee site caused even greater problems.  All in all,
> some 10 instruments were damaged or stolen.
>
> Other than that, a number of new T/RH sensors were replaced to correct
> minor problems.
>
> The monthly averaged fields for March were quite smooth.  However, biases
> were detected in the soil temperature data at Medicine Park, Wilburton,
> and A156.  Those sensors will be investigated in the coming weeks.
>
> ================================================================================
>
> TAIR    Current:        None
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1736 SALL Spikes in data found to be caused by logger
>                         #1735 FAIR Sensor reporting -9999; possible lightning
>                         #1694 ALVA Cattle broke T/RH sensor housing in half
>
> RELH    Current:        #1669 MADI RH sensor reporting -7999 on 3 occassions
>                         #1731 CLAY RH reports of -7999 on numerous occassions
>                         #1754 NINN RH reports ranging from 108% to 4%
>                         #1771 TULL Sensor stolen from station
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1745 STIG Sensor 8.5 0gh with respect to test probe
>                         #1717 FORA RH values exceeding 103%; sensor replaced
>                         #1712 SEIL Sensor replaced to correct low RH bias
>                         #1734 FAIR Sensor reporting -9999; possible lightning
>                         #1711 NINN RH reports of over 103%; sensor replaced
>                         #1732 WYNO RH reports of -7999 occurring; replaced
>
> WDIR    Current:        #1770 TULL Sensor stolen from station
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1753 OKMU Wind direction suspect; sensor replaced
>
> WSPD    Current:        #1769 TULL Sensor stolen from station
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> PRES    Current:        #1751 ALTU Pressure reading stuck at 954.80 mb
>                         #1772 TULL Sensor stolen from station
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1713 BUTL Pressure port clogged by spider web & eggs
>                         #1702 WEBB Comparison confirmed bias; sensor replaced
>                         #1743 REDR Sensor stuck at 970.55 mb; sensor replaced
>
> SRAD    Current:        #1761 TULL Cable cut when enclosure stolen
>                         #1765 OKMU Failed comparison test by >10%
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1733 FAIR Possible lightning damage
>                         #1747 STIG Comparison test indicated 14 0gh; replaced
>                         #1695 ALVA Cattle knocked over SRAD tripod
>
> RAIN    Current:        #1763 TULL Removed from site when other sensors stolen
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       #1700 FORA Under-reporting rainfall; Gauge found faulty
>
> TA9M    Current:        #1760 TULL Cable cut when enclosure stolen
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> WS2M    Current:        None
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> TS10    Current:        #1755 TULL Cable cut when enclosure stolen
>         Added:          #1777 MEDI Monthly QA shows 2-3 C warm bias
>         Resolved:       None
>
> TB10    Current:        #1756 TULL Cable cut when enclosure stolen
>         Added:          #1779 WILB Monthly QA indicates 2.5 C cool bias
>         Resolved:       None
>
> TS05    Current:        None
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> TB05    Current:        None
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> TS30    Current:        #1704 EUFA Sensor reporting -9999 due to lightning
>         Added:          None
>         Resolved:       None
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                                 ARS QA REPORT
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> TAIR    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        None
>
> RELH    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        #1710 A134 Unnatural RELH spikes observed; replaced
>                          #1709 A111 RELH reports of 0%; sensor replaced
>
> SRAD    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        #1606 A123 Tree causing shadow on site was trimmed
>
> RAIN    Current:         #1742 A122 Mysterious rainfall events being observed;
>                                     Gauge seems ok, datalogger is a suspect.
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        None
>
> TS05    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        None
>
> TS10    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        None
>
> TS15    Current:         None
>         Added:           None
>         Resolved:        None
>
> TS30    Current:         None
>         Added:           #1778 A156 Monthly QA shows 2-3 C warm bias
>         Resolved:        #1701 A181 Warm bias confirmed; sensor replaced
>
>
> ==============================================================================
>
> LEGEND
> TAIR    Air Temperature measured at 1.5 meters
> RELH    Relative Humidity measured at 1.5 meters
> WDIR    Wind Direction measured at 10 meters
> WSPD    Wind Speed measured at 10 meters
> PRES    Pressure
> SRAD    Incident Solar Radiation
> RAIN    Rainfall
> TA9M    Air Temperature measured at 9 meters
> WS2M    Wind Speed measured at 2 meters
> TS10    Soil Temperature measured at 10 cm under native sod
> TB10    Soil Temperature measured at 10 cm under bare soil
> TS05    Soil Temperature measured at 5 cm under native sod
> TB05    Soil Temperature measured at 5 cm under bare soil
> TS15    Soil Temperature measured at 15 cm under native sod
> TS30    Soil Temperature measured at 30 cm under native sod
>
> ==============================================================================
> Chris Fiebrich
> April 7, 1998
>

Users of these data should obtain the detailed quality
assurance information from ARM.

• alt
• prec_amt
• wvec_10m
• time_offset
• pres
• wspd_sigma
• wspd_10m
• wdir_10m
• tdry_1_5m
• base_time
• lon
• wspd_max
• wspd_2m
• rh
• tdry_9m
• srad
• wdir_sigma
• lat

• Raw data stream - documentation not supported

• leaf_ind
• alt
• tsoil5
• tsoil10
• tbare5
• vbat
• base_time
• lon
• tbare10
• tbare30
• time_offset
• lat

• Raw data stream - documentation not supported