Quality Assurance

Data from the Grazinglands Research Laboratory micronets are quality assured by the Oklahoma Mesonet. The Oklahoma Mesonet's quality-assurance (QA) system consists of four principal components:
1) laboratory calibration,
2) on-site intercomparison,
3) automated QA, and
4) manual QA.

In the instrument laboratory, all sensors (except the soil moisture sensors) are calibrated to validate or improve upon factory calibrations.

To make a first pass through the observations that are received from the micronets each day, automated QA software evaluates the data in real time.

Finally, the Mesonet’s QA meteorologists employ numerous manual techniques to complement automated QA including analysis of monthly statistics to detect sensor drift or bias (click on a month and year above to download a PDF version of a Monthly Report). For another example of manual QA techniques, download the Summary of Obstructions to Pyranometers. In addition to detecting problematic sensors, the QA meteorologists trace the true start time of each problem so that appropriate data can be manually flagged as erroneous. The QA meteorologists are responsible for communicating problems to, and coordinating with, appropriate field technicians to ensure proper resolution (see a list of the current outstanding tickets below).

Station	Variable	Date Reported	Problem Description
A153	XXXX	12-May-2009 10:29	ARS employee found solar panel stolen. BATV currently down to 12.0 V. AWAITING ARS FIX OF ACCESS PROBLEMS BEFORE "FIX BY" DATE CAN BE CALCULATED.
A162	RAIN	14-Sep-2009 15:23	Site Reported ~1in less than neighbor, rain total did not increase when heavy rainfall passed over site. Site is not currently accessible.