VAWR/IMET Buoy Quality Control Report Parks Camp Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) Surface Meteorological Data Processing Center Center for Ocean Atmospheric Prediction Studies The Florida State University February 13, 1996 Report COAREMET 95-22 Version 1.0 Introduction: The data referenced in this report were collected from the VAWR/IMET buoy, (data acquired from Dr. Robert Weller at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) for TOGA COARE during the Intensive Observing Period (IOP). The files provided to the DPC were heavily processed before arrival (see next section) and contained hourly data. The data were converted to a standard format and were then preprocessed using an automated data quality checking program. The data were then visually inspected by a data quality analyst who reviewed, modified, and added appropriate quality control (QC) flags to the data. This report summarizes the flags for the VAWR/IMET buoy data sets, including both flags added by the preprocessor and the analyst. Data Processing Before Arrival at the DPC: Prior to arrival at the DPC, the VAWR/IMET data had undergone extensive processing and several additions and corrections were made to the data set. The rainfall data from the buoy was gathered from a combination of observations from various surface observing platforms. The platforms used to determine the rainfall included the WHOI surface buoy, R/V Wecoma, R/V Moana Wave and the ATLAS buoy at 2 deg south. The rainfall data was block averaged over 24 hours, and after 23 February 1993, no rain data was available in the COARE IFA, so the mean for the rest of the IOP is provided. Also, a four day gap occurred in the data from December 9, 1992 at 0033 UTC to December 13, 1992 at 0511 UTC. This gap was filled by using the hourly data from Mike McPhaden's (PMEL) nearby ATLAS buoy (156 E, 2 S). These data (SPD, DIR, RH, TS, T) were regridded to the missing time frame. The previous four days of pressure were duplicated and patched into the gap as a temporary solution for this missing variable. Other gaps that appeared in the time series were filled by linearly interpolating in time. Please note that the original file also contains flux, wind stress, and a SST calculated using the COARE Vers. 2.0.b flux code. These data are available upon request. Statistical Information: The data from the WHOI buoy during the IOP were expected to include observations once every hour from October 21, 1992 at 1933 UTC until March 3, 1993 at 2233 UTC. Time (TIME), latitude (LAT), longitude (LON), earth relative wind direction (DIR), earth relative wind speed (SPD), atmospheric pressure (P), temperature (T), sea surface temperature (TS), relative humidity (RH), and rainfall rate (RRATE) were quality controlled. The frequency of assigned flags for each variable are given in Table 1. There were 3,196 total records for the WHOI buoy and up to ten variables for each record resulting in 31,960 values that were reviewed and checked. Table 1: Frequency of Flags Assigned for Each Variable and Flag Type for the WHOI Buoy Total % of Number Variable Data Out of of Records Variable Data Suspect Expected Range Flags Flagged TIME 0 0 LAT 0 0 LON 0 0 DIR 0 0 SPD 0 0 P 0 0 T 0 0 TS 0 0 RH 2 2 0.0626 RRATE 228 228 7.1339 TOTAL 228 2 230 Percent of Total Data Flagged 0.7134 0.0063 0.7197 Summary: As the statistical information indicates, most of the data from the WHOI buoy is considered to be in good condition. Other than two RH values that were above 100% and thus out of the expected range for RH, the only other flags were added to the rainfall values between February 22, 1993 at 1133 UTC and March 3, 1993 at 2233 UTC. As mentioned above, an average value of 0.6 mm/hr was created by WHOI to fill a gap in the data. These data were flagged to be used with caution as they do not fit the sporadic nature of tropical rainfall. Otherwise the data analyst foresees no problems in using this data.