Franklin Data Quality Control Report
Cruises:
PR_13N/01
PR_11_/01
PR_11_/02
PR_11_/03
PR_13N/02
PR_31_/01
P__21_/00
PR_11_/04
PR_13N/04
PR_11_/06
PR_11_/07
Daniel M. Gilmore and Shawn Smith
World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE)
Surface Meteorological Data Assembly Center (DAC)
Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS)
The Florida State University
June 11, 1996
Report WOCEMET 96-5
Version 2.0
Introduction:
The data referenced in this report were collected from the research vessel Franklin (call sign:
VJJF) CSIRO meteorological station scanner for 9 cruises covering 11 WOCE lines. The original
data was converted to a standard format and then pre-processed using an automated data
checking program. Next, a visual inspection was completed by a data quality evaluator (DQE)
who reviewed, modified, and added appropriate quality control (QC) flags to the data. Details of
the WOCE QC can be found in Smith et al. (1996). This report summarizes the flags for the
Franklin data, including flags added by both the pre-processor and the analyst.
Statistical Information:
The data from the Franklin were expected to include observations every 5 minutes from 9
cruises. The cruise track code (CTC), the begin and end date, the number of records, values, and
flags and the percentage of non-Z flags for each cruise is given in table 1. Time (TIME), latitude
(LAT), longitude (LON), platform course (PL_CRS), platform speed (PL_SPD), earth relative
wind direction (DIR), earth relative wind speed (SPD), sea
Table 1: List of dates and numbers of records and flags for each cruise
| CTC | Dates | Number of Records | Number of Values | Number of Flags | Percent Flagged |
| PR_13N/01 PR_11_/01 |
08/15/89 - 09/09/89 | 6725 | 26900 | 2 | 0.01 |
| PR_11_/02 | 09/09/89 - 09/26/89 | 4949 | 19796 | 8 | 0.02 |
| PR_13N/02 | 02/26/90 - 03/23/90 | 7061 | 28244 | 2 | 0.01 |
| PR_11_/03 | 03/23/90 - 04/06/90 | 4274 | 17096 | 0 | 0.00 |
| P__21_/00 PR_31_/01 |
11/15/91 - 12/14/91 | 8210 | 98520 | 911 | 0.92 |
| PR_11_ /04 | 09/18/92 - 10/04/92 | 4496 | 53952 | 0 | 0.00 |
| PR_13N/04 | 06/24/93 - 07/18/93 | 5836 | 75868 | 6005 | 7.92 |
| PR_11_/06 | 09/11/93 - 10/04/93 | 5712 | 54051 | 6 | 0.01 |
| PR_11_/07 | 03/10/94 - 04/03/94 | 6759 | 87867 | 0 | 0.00 |
temperature (TS), atmospheric pressure (P), air temperature (T), and relative humidity (RH) were quality controlled. A total of 462,294 values were checked and a total of 6,934 flags were added to the nine cruises resulting in 1.5% of the data being flagged. Table 2 details the flag distribution, including percentages flagged for each variable sorted by type.
Summary:
All the files for this data set do not contain the same parameters. The differences in content were
not necessarily divided by cruise. No explanation was given for the discrepancy. Table 3 outlines
which parameters are available for which files.
Table 2: Frequency of Flags Assigned for Each Variable
Variable |
Unreal Movement |
>4 s.d. from Climatological Mean |
Interesting Feature |
Erroneous Data |
Caution /Suspect Data |
Spike |
Totals |
Percentage of Records Flagged |
| LAT | 5 | 5 | 0.01 | |||||
| LON | 5 | 5 | 0.01 | |||||
| DIR | 4 | 4 | 0.01 | |||||
| SPD | 25 | 25 | 0.09 | |||||
| TS | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.01 | ||||
| P | 5365 | 5365 | 33.17 | |||||
| T | 8 | 8 | 0.03 | |||||
| RH | 1518 | 1518 | 5.26 | |||||
| Totals: | 10 | 25 | 7 | 5365 | 1518 | 9 | 6934 | 1.50 |
| Percentage of flags used | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 1.16 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 1.50 |
Two notable problems occurred in this data set. The first was that the atmospheric pressure observations for the entire PR_13N/04 cruise were reported as 0.0 mb. These values were flagged as "J", erroneous data. One must assume an instrument malfunction; however, no confirmation of a malfunction was available. The second problem was that many of the relative humidity observations were at exactly 100% for the periods 11/30/91 - 12/14/91 and 07/09/93 - 07/18/93. This is a highly improbable situation. However , due to the absence of disputing data all these values were flagged with "K", caution/suspect data.
Table 3: Parameters Available for Each File
| Filename | Cruise | Available Parameters |
| VJJF.89081500 5v100.nc | PR_13N/01 | TIME, LAT, LON, TS |
| VJJF.89082000 5v100.nc | TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89082500 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89083000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89090400 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89090900 5v100.nc | PR_11_/02 | TIME, LAT, LON, TS |
| VJJF.89091400 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89091900 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.89092400 3v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90022600 5v100.nc | PR_13N/02 | TIME, LAT, LON, TS |
| VJJF.90030300 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90030800 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90031300 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90031800 5v100.nc | PR_11_/03 | TIME, LAT, LON, TS |
| VJJF.90032300 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90032800 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.90040200 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.91111500 5v100.nc | P__21_/00 | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH |
| VJJF.91112000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.91112500 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.91113000 4v100.nc | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.91120500 5v100.nc | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.91121000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.92091800 5v100.nc | PR_11_/04 | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH |
| VJJF.92092300 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.92092700 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93062400 5v100.nc | PR_13N/04 | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH |
| VJJF.93062900 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93070400 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93070900 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93071400 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93091100 5v100.nc | PR_11_/06 | TIME, LAT, LON, TS |
| VJJF.93091500 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, TS | |
| VJJF.93092000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93092505 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.93093000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.94031000 5v100.nc | PR_11_/07 | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH |
| VJJF.94031500 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.94032000 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.94032500 5v100.nc |
TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH | |
| VJJF.94033000 5v100.nc | TIME, LAT, LON, PS_CRS, PL_SPD, PS_WDIR, PS_WSPD, DIR, SPD, TS, P, T, RH |
In addition, there were some minor problems with the data set. Five observations each of lat and lon were flagged with "F", unreal movement, by the pre-screener. No explanation was given for the readings, so they were not changed by the analyst. The meteorological observations for these records should be taken to be correct unless otherwise flagged. There were also 25 "G", observation >4 standard deviations from climatological mean, descriptive flags added to earth relative wind speed observations during the period 12/10/91 - 12/14/91. The flagged observations, which are near 20 m/s, appear to be correct. Therefore, the flags were not changed by the analyst.
Three sea temperature observations were flagged with "I", interesting feature. In each case, the sea temperature fell more than 4 degrees, and then rose to near the previous temperature within a 4 hour period. Only the lowest temperature during each of these episodes was flagged. One possible explanation for this is that strong winds that mixed the ocean waters resulting in colder water near the ocean surface. A lack of corresponding data hinders further investigation into the cause of these events.
Four wind direction observations were also flagged with "I". The Intertropical Convergence Zone boundary shows up clearly as the ship passes through it twice. The observations at the start and finish of the change in wind direction at the beginning and end of the event were each flagged.
Final Note:
With the exception of the atmospheric pressure observations for the PR_13N/04 cruise and the
relative humidity observations mentioned above, these data appear to be in excellent condition.
The analyst foresees no problems in using this data.
References:
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
32310.