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Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site Data, North Slope of Alaska

Entry ID: ARCSS010

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Summary

Abstract: As part of the Arctic Long Term Ecological Research (ARC LTER) project, numerous investigators have collected diverse environmental data from sites in the northern foothills of Alaska's Brooks Range. Data collected since 1975 include observations of climate, tundra plant communities and productivity, soils and thaw depth, stream flow, chemistry and temperature of streams and lakes, lake productivity, and nutrient cycling. Research goals include monitoring and predicting biotic responses to climatic change. Data collection was supported by NSF LTER award #9810222. These data are archived at the Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Web site.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: access to data via NSIDC

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE

Description: Arctic Long Term Ecological Research Site

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: 69.0

S: 69.0

E: -150.0

W: -150.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: Multiple Investigators

Dataset Title: Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site Data, North Slope of Alaska

Dataset Release Date: 1995-01-01

Dataset Release Place: Boulder, CO U.S.A.

Dataset Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)

Online Resource: http://nsidc.org/data/arcss010.html

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1975-01-01

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > ALASKA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > ARCTIC > ALASKA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > AIR TEMPERATURE

ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > SURFACE WINDS

ISO Topic Category

CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

ELEVATION

OCEANS

Platform

METEOROLOGICAL STATIONS

BUOYS

SHIPS

Instrument

ALTIMETERS

ANEMOMETERS

Project

ESIP > Earth Science Information Partners Program

Quality LOGICAL CONSISTENCY REPORT: Automated checks are applied to the data during the ingest process before the data are written off to the archive (DATSAV3) flat file format and then loaded into the Surface Historical data base. There are three types of quality control applied to the data. The initial is validation of individual observations and is applied as the data is received. The second ... incorporates synoptic decode algorithms and various other functions as described below and is also run hourly as data are received. The third consists of continuity checks over time and consequently is run once a day. The initial Quality Control validates the data against the master station catalog, checks to see if the station is in our catalog and adds latitude and longitude where missing (if it is listed in the master station catalog). The second phase of the QC (QC_RAW) incorporates a variety of functions, the largest portion of which is decoding the additive portion of the synoptic observation. Its other roles are merging different types (i.e. METAR, SYNOPTIC) of observations that come in for the same station for the same time, removing duplicate observations, distinguishing record observations from special observations, rounding record observation times to the nearest whole hour where applicable, and calculating/correcting ceilings. The daily checks validate observations in three ways. It performs gross limit checks on specific elements within the observation. It performs intra-observation checks to see if elements within the same observation are consistent. It also performs inter-observation checks for consistency and continuity between different observations from the same station. A detailed description of the DAILY ALGORITHMS 27 Nov 95 (updated Dec 2001) WIND ALGORITHMS 1. Wind direction: If wind_dir not = 0-360 or 990 or 999, then set = missing. 2. Wind direction: If wind_dir not = 0 and wind_spd = 0 and wind_gust = 0 or 9999, then set wind_dir = 0. 3. Wind speed: If wind_spd not 0-

COMPLETENESS REPORT: Periods of record vary from station to station. The earliest station data dates back to January of 1901. New data are added to the dataset each month. There are over 22,000 stations loaded in the tables. Long periods of record do not necessarily end at the current time. No reasonable data are excluded from the dataset during the load process. The Oracle tables are set up to include all the surface data from the AFCCC archive file that is created for each month:

LINEAGE/PROCESS STEP:
PROCESS DESCRIPTION: Quality fields have been established for each meteorological element in the data base. Five quality flags are available for use, but only four are currently used by AFCCC. A quality flag of 0 = No check, 1 = Good, 2 = Suspect, 3 = Erroneous (not used by AFCCC, because if we determine it is bad, we remove it), 4=Calculated and 5=Removed. During the initial load of the data into the data base, a large number of stations that shared the same latitude and longitude were identified. Value judgments were made for each station and only one station per latitude and longitude combination was loaded into the tables. Any station data that could not be loaded because it shared the same latitude and longitude with another station was cataloged and an ongoing effort is underway to resolve such stations and get them loaded into the tables where possible. In some instances, it is simply a matter of resolving the latitude and longitude to a higher resolution (if available) so that the station can be reloaded into the tables. In other cases, extensive research will be required to determine if there is an error in either the latitude or longitude or perhaps even the block station number that has been assigned to the station before it was sent to the archive. It should be noted that there were over one thousand stations that could not be loaded into the data base because of this problem. In addition to this problem there were approximately xxxxx stations in the archive that did not have any latitude and longitude or the latitude and longitude had been set to a default of latitude = 0 and longitude = 0. Stations without a valid latitude and longitude were not loaded into the tables. A detailed quality control data base of errors (QC_ADE) is available on the AFCCC intranet at http://intranet/dod/quality.php. QC_ADE is an Access data base that the Data Quality Team uses to detail and catalog any know errors that exist in the various data bases maintained at AFCCC. QC_ADE contains details of both open and resolved errors in the data. It offers search a search capability based on weather element, database, blockstation, country, date range, AFWA Problem Report Number, internal tracker identification number, and keyword.
PROCESS DATE: 19010101

Access Constraints ACCESS CONSTRAINTS: Access through AFCCC is limited to DoD agencies and their contractors. All other requests are filled through the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

DISTRIBUTION LIABILITY: Every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of current NOAA quality control procedures. NOAA can only ...

Use Constraints Acknowledgement of the Data Originator when using the Data Item as a source.

Ancillary Keywords

CRYOSPHERE > SNOW/ICE

HYDROSPHERE > SNOW/ICE

GOSIC

G3OS/

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce

Data Center URL: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
Dataset ID: ______DSI-9966 ____

Data Center Personnel
Name: NCDC CUSTOMER SERVICE Phone: 828-271-4800 Fax: 828-271-4876 Email: ncdc.orders at noaa.gov Contact Address: 151 Patton Avenue, Room 120 City: Asheville Province or State: NC Postal Code: 28801-5001 Country: USA