Development Page--Not for Official Use

Rough Draft, please edit. --ScottDuff

To start the QC process, go to http://lighthouse.tamucc.edu:4001/qc You will be asked for a username and password. If you don't know your username and password or the system keeps saying that you have entered an incorrect username/password, send email to dnr-is@lighthouse.tamucc.edu (or you aren't authorized to perform any actions relating to the QC process so the most you can do is view the graphs. Try http://lighthouse.tamucc.edu/qc instead)

Once your username and password have been accepted you will be presented with a list of stations and an area for entering messages. Messages entered in this area are for items that affect all (or a large number of) the stations in the QC list. For instance, if most of the stations are missing data for the last 24 hours it may be that the NESDIS downloads are failing. A message such as this would be entered into the message box on the main QC page. See QCMessages for more info.

To start the normal QC process, you first click on the link for Naval Air Station. You will then be presented with a page containing 4 sections:

1. DCPStatistics
2. Messages
3. Graphs
4. and an area to enter new messages

The DCP statistics show satellite transmission summary information. Data are transmitted at regular intervals from DCPs within the [1]^? network to NESDIS via GOES. [2]^? retrieves these data from NESDIS and imports it into the database. For more information about the format of satellite transmission summaries, see DCPStatistics. Any problem with the DCPStatistics should be noted in an active message. (Note that some stations do not have a DCPStatistics section because they do not transmit via satellite. Examples are the salt and do stations [3])

The Messages section shows all of the messages for the station within the time period that is being QCed (typically 15 days). These messages typically indicate a problem with a station but may also be merely informational content. See QCMessages for more information.

The Graphs section shows time series plots of all data available at the station. Any anomaly in the data should be cause to generate an active message.

If something looks odd, it warrants an active message Better to have false positives than to miss potential problems.

At the top and bottom of the page are links to the QC station list, the previous station in the list and the next station in the list. Once you've looked over the DCPStatistics, QCGraphs^? and entered any relevant messages for a given station, you should click on the link that takes you to the next station. Continue until you've reached Naval Air Station again.

There are certain items that we QC that don't necessarily have a station identifier associated with them. For instance, there are 3 voice systems that report information to users via telephone. The person performing QCs^? should call these systems and check to make sure that they are reporting data properly. (For problems with the Freeport voice system (Freeport Flowinfo), an active message can be placed on station 059)

Once you've QCed all of the stations, return to the QC Station List and click on the link that says "Mail Messages to dnr-list@lighthouse.tamucc.edu" This is always the last step in the QC process. Finding the problems and posting messages to the QC page is good, but letting everyone know about them is even better.

QC Glossary

DCP

Data Collection Platform

NESDIS

National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. Data are transmitted via GOES to NESDIS where they are stored for a period of roughly 3 days. Researchers that utilize NESDIS must retreive their data within this 3 day period.

GOES

Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite