Automatic procedures for submitting essential climate variables (ECVs) recorded at Italian atmospheric observatories to WMO/GAW data centers
Abstract
In this work, we developed automatic procedures for the flagging and formatting of essential climate variables (ECVs, i.e., observations of near-surface trace gases, aerosol properties and meteorological variables) data to be submitted to the World Data Centers (WDCs) of the Global Atmosphere Watch program of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO/GAW). To this aim, we developed specific routines for data filtering, flagging, format harmonization, and creation of data products (e.g., plots of valid/corrected/averaged ECV data and instrumental parameters), useful for detecting instrumental problems or particular atmospheric events. The system, which is currently active at five Italian atmospheric observatories, is composed of several levels. First, raw data (typically collected at 1-min time resolution) from all instruments and different measurements stations are transferred to a common server, where they are automatically processed for the harmonization of format and flagging, according to WMO/GAW data centers guidelines (i.e., creation of Level-0 data). Then, all necessary checks for data validity and corrections (e.g., automatic calibration) are applied to the ECVs datasets. Within this phase, also a preliminary automatic data validation process is performed, leading to the creation of Level-1 data. After these data screening procedures and corrections, Level-1 data are then aggregated to hourly averages, to obtain Level-2 data. To support the station personnel in the daily QA/QC checks as well as data reporting and interpretation, also a suite of graphic products is automatically generated. For each ECV, on a daily basis, plots reporting the time series of instrumental diagnostic parameters, along with time averages over different reference periods, are produced. The system represents a valuable tool to facilitate data originators towards a more efficient data production and to accelerate the process of data submission to data centers or repositories. The adoption of automatic procedures for data flagging and data correction also assures the complete traceability of the data production process. All of the procedures, developed using the "R" language, are freely available online (http://nextdata.igg.cnr.it:8080/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/home).
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.A43P2935P
- Keywords:
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- 0305 Aerosols and particles;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0394 Instruments and techniques;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 3394 Instruments and techniques;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES