Moana Wave Quality Control Report Christopher Harvey 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 September 19, 1995 Report COAREMET 95-14 Version 1.0 Introduction: The data referenced in this report were collected from the research vessel, Moana Wave (call sign WUS9293; data acquired from NOAA/ERL Boulder, CO) for TOGA COARE during the Intensive Observing Period (IOP). All standard meteorological data were converted to a common 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 Moana Wave data sets, including both flags added by the preprocessor and the analyst. Statistical Information: The data from the Moana Wave during the IOP were expected to include observations every ten minutes from three cruises. Table 1 provides a listing of the cruises and their start and end dates. Time (TIME), latitude (LAT), longitude (LON), platform heading (PL_HD), platform speed (PL_SPD), earth relative wind direction (DIR), earth relative wind speed (SPD), two air temperatures (T and T2), a sea surface temperature (TS), and two specific humidities (Q and Q2) were quality controlled. The availability of data for each day and the percentage of the data flagged is given in Table 2. There were 8,081 records for the Moana Wave and up to twelve variables for each record resulting in 96,972 values that were revised and checked. Table 3 details the distribution of flags and includes the percentages flagged for each variable sorted by flag type. Table 1: Cruise Information Cruise Leg Start Date End Date Total Number of Days 1 11/11/92 12/03/92 23 2 12/17/92 01/12/93 27 3 01/28/93 02/16/93 20 Table 2: Availability of Data Number of Total Number Cruise Leg Records of Data Values Percent Flagged 1 2,965 35,580 0.1602 2 3,275 39,300 0.1578 3 1,841 22,092 0.3033 Total 8,081 96,972 0.1918 Table 3: Frequency of Flags Assigned for Each Variable and Flag Type > 4 S.D. From Percent of Unrealistic Climatological Bad Spike in Total Number Variable Records Variable Movement Mean Data Data of Flags Flagged TIME 0 0 LAT 24 24 0.2970 LON 24 24 0.2970 PL_HD 64 64 0.7920 PL_SPD 0 0 DIR 3 3 0.0371 SPD 6 19 25 0.3094 T 5 5 0.0619 T2 1 9 10 0.1237 TS 2 5 18 25 0.3094 Q 3 3 0.0371 Q2 3 3 0.0371 Total 48 9 5 124 186 Percent of Total Data Flagged 0.0495 0.0093 0.0052 0.1279 0.1918 Notes: The original data arriving at the FSU DPC had undergone post cruise calibration and general quality review. The following are some notes of interest compiled from the original data README files. 1) The ship speed and course is taken directly from GPS. The true wind has been corrected for the surface current based on IMET data supplied by Bob Weller (WHOI). Thus, these winds are referenced to the surface of the water, not the fixed earth. Typical corrections are on the order of 0.5 m/s. A mean correction of 0.2 m/s has been subtracted from the wind speed based on comparisons with the R/V Franklin. 2) Air temperatures and humidities are given from two different sensors (the Vaisala HMP- 35 and the OPHIR IR-2000). Both have crude corrections for daytime heating errors based on measured wind speed and solar radiation. The OPHIR mean humidity has been increased by 3% based on calibrations of the OPHIR hygrometer against the CSIRO psychrometer during TOGA/COARE. The factory calibration for the Vaisala humidity sensor has been reduced 2% to force average agreement with the OPHIR. 3) The aspirator fan on the Vaisala HMP-35 failed early in the experiment, so the OPHIR data was filled in for the temperature and specific humidity for the first 15 days of leg 1. Therefore, values in T and T2, and Q and Q2, are identical for the first 15 days. This procedure ended when a replacement Vaisala sensor arrived. 4) It is important to note that not all the values available from Moana Wave are included in the standard FSU dataset. Values for sea surface specific humidity, sensible and latent heat fluxes, surface stresses, and other physical parameters are available fron the original files upon request. Summary: As the statistical information indicates, the data from the Moana Wave were in very good condition. Minor problems occurred in a some variables, but the analyst does not foresee any problem in using this data Reference: 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. In preparation.