Statistical Information:
The data referenced in this report were expected to include observations taken every 3 hours by the research vessel's bridge crew. Values for the following parameters were collected, although some variables were not measured by each research vessel and on each cruise:

Time	(TIME)
Latitude	(LAT)
Longitude	(LON)
Earth Relative Wind Direction	(DIR)
Earth Relative Wind Speed	(SPD)
Sea Temperature	(TS)
Atmospheric Pressure	(P)
Air Temperature	(T)
Wet-Bulb Temperature	(TW)
Dewpoint Temperature	(TD)
Present Weather	(WX)
Total Cloud Amount	(TCA)
Low or Middle Cloud Amount	(LMCA)
Cloud Base Height	(ZCL)
Low Cloud Type	(LCT)
Middle Cloud Type	(MCT)
High Cloud Type	(HCT)

Table 1 highlights parameters that were not collected for each of the 62 cruises described in this report. For each cruise, table 2 lists the start and end date, number of values, number of records, number of flags, and percentage of values flagged. A total of 64,934 values were evaluated for the 62 cruises and 30 flags were added by the preprocessor and Data quality Evaluator. The flagged values are 0.05 percent of the total values.

Unrealistic Platform Speed ("F" flags):
A few latitude and longitude variables were flagged with the "F" flag. These flags indicate that the platform speed computed by the preprocessor exceeds a realistic speed for a research vessel (15 meters per second). These latitude and longitude positions should be used with caution.

Value Greater Than 4 Standard Deviations from Climatology ("G" flags):
The preprocessor assigned "G" flags to earth relative wind speed and pressure data. The flags identify values that are greater than 4 standard deviations from the Da Silva (1994) climatology for each parameter. This test does not necessarily indicate erroneous values, just extreme data.

Data Arrived at the DAC Flagged Questionable ("Q" flags):
"Q" flags represent values that arrived at the DAC already flagged as suspect. No reason for these suspect values was provided to the DAC; however, the flags were retained and converted to our format. The data should be used with caution.

Spike in the Data ("S" flags):
The Data Quality Evaluator applied "S" flags to various parameters. The flags indicate values that are drastically out of the current data trend.

References:

da Silva, A.M., C.C. Young and S. Levitus, 1994: Atlas of Surface Marine Data 1994, Volume 1:
Algorithms and Procedures. NOAA Atlas Series.

Smith, S. R., C. Harvey, and D. M. Legler, 1996: Handbook of Quality Control Procedures and Methods for Surface Meteorology Data. WOCE Report No. 141/96, Report WOCEMET 96-1, Center for Ocean- Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32301.