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Please contact the AMRC in such a case. # # # # AMRC Contact Information: # # Address: 947 Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences Building # # 1225 West Dayton Street # # Madison, Wisconsin, USA 53706 # # Telephone: +1 (608) 262-0436 # # Fax: +1 (608) 263-6738 # # E-mail: amrc@ssec.wisc.edu # # Web: http://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/ # # FTP: ftp://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/ # # McIDAS ADDE: Group AMRC and ARCHIVE on aws.ssec.wisc.edu # # RAMADDA: https://amrc.ssec.wisc.edu/repository/ # # Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AMRCAWS # # Twitter: http://twitter.com/antmet # # YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/AMRCantmet # # Wikipedia: # # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Meteorological_Research_Center # # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Automatic_Weather_Stations_Project # # # Updated: 24 July 2013 # # # ########################################################################### Subject: Updated Palmer weather summaries Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 13:19:45 -0400 From: Palmer SciTech To: skchang@kordi.re.kr, karen@icess.ucsb.edu, mattl@ssec.wisc.edu CC: edwardro@usap.gov, sucherca@usap.gov, labman@palmer.usap.nsf.gov, manager@palmer.usap.nsf.gov From: John F Booth, Palmer Station Science Technician To: Karen Baker: SIO Matt Lazzara: University of Wisconsin Dr. Soon-Keun Chang: KORDI CC: Rob Edwards and Cara Sucher: RPSC Joe Pettit: Palmer Station Hi there, Greetings to the elite group who care enough to want the very best :-). In subsequent messages I will attach the corrected files. Here I want to offer a BRIEF accounting of the kinds of changes that were made. For the period January 1999 through the present, copies of the original daily 1-10 forms are available at Palmer, and all those forms were reviewed, along with the barograph and anemograph tracings. Summaries were checked for math errors, transcription errors, typos, misread graphs, and coding and data entry inconsistencies. MANY (over 1100) corrections were made between November 2000 and February 2002, but most were, to put it bluntly, nitpicky. A few tenths of a degree here, a millibar or two there, etc. There were, though, a few more substantial corrections, such as the 72.9 mm of precipitation that was accidentally entered as 7.3 mm, or the average wind speed of 19 knots reported as 2 knots, or the misapplied Excel formula that produced a monthly average pressure lower than the monthly minimum pressure, or the "stuck" tide gage display that was being used to report (the same incorrect) sea water temperature for a month and a half. For the period before 1999, a much more cursory review was performed. A number of "reality check" tests were implemented to seek out suspicious values; these included simple sorting, which turned up such issues as pressure entries of 1076.0 mb and 1114.1 mb; range continuity checking between sequential days, which proved adept at finding typos and repeated data (more on that below); and searching for blanks. Suspicious values were investigated and corrected by, if possible, appealing to the original 1-10 forms (many of which were available in Denver, if not at Palmer) and then attempting to determine the root of the error and the original intent. If that proved to be impossible, other sources of data, including NCDC or other repositories of the original coded synoptic observations, EnPAWS (a rudimentary automated basic parameter system at Palmer), Bonaparte Point's AWS, or cmdr's manual "weather scroll", were consulted. In all corrections, the primary goal was to be as faithful to the original methods and instruments as possible, with the secondary goal being to properly characterize the conditions even if the primary goal was not completely reachable. Perhaps the most significant offenses encountered in this second "broad" phase of the project were a small number of instances in which the same values were reported in two locations. The summary for March 1995, to give the worst example, contained data from March 1994. 5-11 June 1994, 28-30 November 1993, and 26 December 1993 also contained data (properly) reported on other days. In a related type of situation, values given on 27-31 December 1993 and 23-24 March 2001 were reported on the wrong days (but at least reported only once). These particular duplication and switching errors were caught, generally by pressure or temperature continuity checks, but there's no guarantee that other similar errors did not escape detection. And there's even less of a guarantee that there are not other substantial errors in the data that remain undiscovered and therefore uncorrected. For 1999 through the present, I believe that the summaries are very reliable as translations of the observed values, but I cannot ensure that the original observations were made properly. Prior to 1999, I cannot even claim the clean translations, and I *know* of several instances in which significant deviations in observing or reporting procedures DO have a strong impact on the summaries, so as always, caveat emptor. All I can claim here is an incremental step toward better data with fewer gaffes. Please feel free to ask any questions that you might have; I'll be around for another few days. Au revoir, John.