DQRID : D931112.1
Start DateStart TimeEnd DateEnd Time Data Quality Metric
11/11/1993192711/12/19932359Suspect
more
Subject:
operator error
DataStreams:sgpsondeC1.a0, sgpsondeC1.a1
Description:
DQR No:                               Platform: SGPSONDEC1

Subject: operator error

Date Submitted: 11/12/93
Submitted By: Barry Lesht             _X_  Instrument Mentor
                                      ___  EST Member
                                      ___  Science Team Member
                                      ___  Other _____________________________
 
For questions or problems, please contact the ARM Experiment Center at
509-375-6898 or via email at problems@arm.gov.

Platform/Measurement:  All
        What level data: (raw,a0,a1,b1,c1 etc): 

    What location was the data collected at: SGP/CF
         
    Period of time in question
        Begin Date  11/11/93   Time   19:27    (GMT)
        End Date      /  /     Time     :      (GMT)
   Sonde data files 11/11/93 19:27 and following may have bad data.

 Data should be labeled:
 _X_  questionable                      ___  All data fields affected
 ___  incorrect                         ___  Only some data fields affected
 ___  wrong calibration
 ___  others 
 
 Discussion of Problem:
 
 Mike Splitt of the site scientist team noted that the sounding done 11/11/93
 showed 0 RH at the ground.  I looked at the raw data file and also noted that
 the ground check humidity values were entered as 70 (reference) and 69 (sonde).
 The ground check humidity values should be zero.  This suggests an operator
 error of some sort.  Because 11/11 was a holiday, the usual sonde operator
 was not on site.  No entries of anything unusual were found in the daily
 ops log.  It may be coincidental that the SDS change-over moving Dorothy
 from the SPARC 2 to the SPARC 10 occurred at this time, but it may not be.

 The sounding done 11/12/93 also had problems.  Dave Glahn reported that the
 first sonde he tried showed 44% RH in the ground check set.  This typically
 results from using an incorrect calibration tape.  Dave opened a second
 sonde which passed ground check.  After launch, when Dave attempted to enter
 the surface observations, he says they were not written to the normal output
 file and that he was unable to graph the sounding on the sonde PC
 as it was occurring.  The operators played with the computer and ended up
 overwriting the standard output file - losing all data below about 5 km.

 It is difficult to determine the cause of the problem.  These data files
 should be flagged as questionable until we understand what happened.  My
 hypothesis is that the operators inadvertently modified the sonde software
 on 11/11 and that the output files are being written to the wrong directories.
 It is also possible that this problem resulted from the SDS change-over.
 SDS change-overs have, in the past, caused problems with the sonde data
 archiving.  I gave instructions to Dave Glahn to check the directory pointers
 before doing a sounding on Monday.  I will be on site Wednesday (for another
 purpose) and will check the system if we do not have resolution by then.
 
Other observations/measurements impacted by this problem:



Suggested Corrections of the Problem: (e.g. change calibration factor and
recompute, flag data with this comment, etc.)

Flag data.


Data Processing Notes                Date
Suggestions: 
Measurements:sgpsondeC1.a0:
  • lat
  • wspd
  • dp
  • wstat
  • deg
  • lon
  • rh
  • base_time
  • time_offset
  • tdry
  • asc
  • pres
  • alt
more
sgpsondeC1.a1:
  • alt
  • base_time
  • rh
  • asc
  • pres
  • v_wind
  • tdry
  • deg
  • time_offset
  • u_wind
  • lon
  • dp
  • wstat
  • wspd
  • lat
more

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