Fort Valley Experimental Forest 30-minute meteorological data: 2003-present

Metadata:

Identification_Information
Data_Quality_Information
Entity_and_Attribute_Information
Distribution_Information
Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: D.P. Huebner

Publication_Date: 2006

Title:

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data

Publication_Information:

Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station

Online_Linkage: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/data_archive/dataaccess/FortValleyEF_30min_meteorology.shtml

Description:

Abstract:: This data set includes precipitation and temperature data summarized every 30 minutes from March 23, 2003 to present at the Fort Valley Experimental Forest in Arizona, and a link to the data collected from 1909 to present.
Purpose:: The Coconino Experiment Station (later Fort Valley Experiment Station) was established in 1908 to investigate reproduction in ponderosa pine forests. Regular meteorological observations have been made since that time to support this and other research.
Supplemental_Information:: Fort Valley meteorological data prior to March 2003 were submitted to the Weather Service in daily summary form as a part of the cooperative weather station program. The Weather Service put the data through their quality control and quality assurance checks and then made these data (August of 1909 to March 2003) available through the National Climatic Data Center website. At the time this documentation was written http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?WWDI~StnSrch~COOPID~023160
was a good starting URL for accessing this data. Although the hstory page on that site makes it appear as if the record begins in 1948 the data available on the site does go back to 1909.

Starting in March of 2003 the Rocky Mountain Research Station took over the quality control and quality assurance processes for these data and have hence made these data available in a raw electronic format, summarized for each 30-minute period. Daily summaries continue to be submitted to the Weather Service each month. The result is that daily summaries from 1909 to present are available from the NCDC and 30-minute summaries are available March 2003 to the present in this archive.

In the first half of December 2006 the grounds of the Fort Valley Experiment Station, including the proximity of the meteorological station, were significantly thinned in a restoration/fuels treatment project. A post thinning photograph (FortValleyEF_thinning_Dec06. jpg) can be used to get a qualitative sense of change from pre-thinned condition (FortValleyEF_instrumentation_Jul06.jpg).

Additional information about Fort Valley can be found at http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/fortvalley/.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 2003
Ending_Date: 2008

Currentness_Reference:

ground condition

Status:

Progress: In work
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: Monthly

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

The Fort Valley Experimental Forest is comprised of approximately 5270 acres of forest in five disjunct units in the area of of Flagstaff, Arizona on the Coconino National Forest. A map is available as browse graphic. The weather station is in unit 2.

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -111.74259
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -111.74259
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 35.26778
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 35.26778
Bounding_Altitudes:

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: precipitation
Theme_Keyword: temperature
Theme_Keyword: meteorological data

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: Fort Valley, Arizona
Place_Keyword: Northern Arizona
Place_Keyword: Coconino National Forest
Place_Keyword: Fort Valley Experimental Forest

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints:

These data were collected by USDA Forest Service researchers and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the citation below when citing the dataset:

Huebner, D.P. 2006. Fort Valley Experimental Forest 30-Minute Meteorological Data: 2003-present. [Online]. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/data_archive [2006, October 3].

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: D.P. Huebner
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystems Program

Contact_Position: Biological Technician

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 2500 S. Pine Knoll Drive
City: Flagstaff
State_or_Province: Arizona
Postal_Code: 86001
Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 928-814-6350

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: FortValleyEF_instrumentation_Jul06.jpg
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:: Photograph of the Fort Valley Experimental Forest meteorological instrumentation in July of 2006. A=107 temperature probe, B=unrelated Davis WeatherMonitor II station, C=tipping bucket rain gage, D=lightning rod, E=enclosure for CR10 datalogger. Distance between 107 probe and tipping bucket is 45 feet.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: JPEG

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: FortValleyEF_thinning_Dec06.jpg
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:: Photograph of the Fort Valley Experiment Station meteorological station in December of 2006. It shows thinning that occurred in early December of 2006 for a restoration/fuels treatment project.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: JPEG

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: FortValleyEF_unit_map.jpg
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:: Map showing the five units of Fort Valley Experimental Forest. The Meteorological station is located in unit 2.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: JPEG

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: FortValleyEF_radiation_shields.jpg
Browse_Graphic_File_Description:: Photograph showing radiation shields. The shield on the left was used from station automation (1993) to 1100 June 2, 2008. At that time the radiation shield was replaced with unit at right of photograph.
Browse_Graphic_File_Type: JPEG

Data_Set_Credit:

Credit is due to Gus Pearson for foresight in beginning this long term data set and to those managers along the way who permitted their employees to continue building this data set. A large number of Forest Service employees have contributed to equipment matters and data collection over the past century. During the period May 1998 - March 2003 maintenance and data was collection was the responibility of Northern Arizona University School of Forestry through memorandum of understanding between the Rocky Mountain Research Station and Northern Arizona University School of Forestry.

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Data file 1: FortValleyEF_meteorology_current_year.csv is a comma delimited ASCII text file with field headers in the first row. The data file contains current calendar year observations.
Data file(s) 2: FortValleyEF_meteorology_YYYY.csv are comma delimited ASCII text files with field headers in the first row. The data files contains observations from 2003 through last year with YYYY indicating 4 digit year. One year of data is about 1 MB in size.
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2003.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2004.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2005.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2006.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2007.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2008.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2009.csv
FortValleyEF_meteorology_2010.csv

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:: Precipitation values +/- .5% at .5 inches per hour, +/- 1% at 1 to 3 inches per hour, 0.01 inch resolution. Temperature accuracy +/- 0.4 degrees C (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) in the range -24 degrees Celcius to 48 degrees Celcius. These values are from manufacturer literature.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Raw data are summarized within 5 days after the end of each month to view daily precipitation total, daily high and low temperature and temperature at 0900 MST. This summary is reviewed for outliers and if there are any suspicious records they are further investigated using other local weather stations as reference. Data are rejected and removed from the dataset if deemed in error and can not be confidently adjusted using data from other local weather stations.

Completeness_Report:

These archive records begin March 23, 2003 at 0700 mountain standard time.
IMPORTANT NOTES - PRECIPITATION: Precipitation totals including the following periods will be incorrect (underrepresented).

July 1 2003 to 1830 MST August 25, 2003 missing data (Station sent to Campbell Scientific for calibration. Station programming simplified.)

The tipping bucket rain gauge was out of service from approximately March 15, 2005 thru April 24, 2005 at 13:00 MST. The bucket had come out of the pivot point. Repaired April 24, 2005 13:00.

The tipping bucket was malfunctioning from an unknown date after September 8, 2005 to October 18, 2005 at 1730 MST. This missed a significant rain event October 17-18. A new reed switch was installed.

IMPORTANT NOTE - PRECIPITATION: A gopher chewed through the tipping bucket rain gauge cable in late June of 2011. This resulted in missing precip events July 2-4 of 2011. The wire was repaired July 5th 2011. The precip from July 2-4 measured .38 inches in the standard can on site. To reconstruct this data for the record data from the consumer grade weather station on site was downloaded. The total precip on the consumer grade weather station measured .35 inches for July 2-4 2011. The .38 inches measured in the standard can was distributed among the three days in proportion to amount measured on the consumer grade weather station. The total for each day was added to single hour in the weather record when most of the precipitation occured. For the July 2, 2011 record .01 inches was added to the 1400 (2:00 PM) reading. For July 3 2011 .23 inches was added to the 1500 record. For July 4 2011 record .14 inches was added to the 0700 record. Total precip is now accurate. The distribution of precip throughout the day is not accurate. The whole of the precip for the day is shown in a the single period of the day when most of the precip occured.

IMPORTANT NOTES - TEMPERATURE

April 28, 2008: National Weather Service (NWS) installed Max/Min Temperature Sensor (MMTS) and Standard Rain Guage (SRG) on site. Temperature comparisons between NWS equipment and our 107 probe showed significant differences for daily high temperature. This difference was generally 1 to 3 degrees F with one day showing a difference of 4 degrees F (higher readings on our 107 probe). These comparisons can be viewed at FortValleyEF_data_compare.html. Since the NWS equipment was checked for calibration (with a series of fixed resistors) at the time of installation it was used as a standard. It was noted that the MMTS solar radiation shield on the NWS equipment was larger in size than the 41301 Gill Multi-Plate Radiation Shield on our 107 probe.

June 2, 2008: To determine if this difference in shelter design was related to the difference in temperature we replaced the smaller shield on our 107 probe with one identical to one on NWS equipment (though it had a little yellowing from UV - it was a used unit). As of June 4, 2008 it seems this has brought high temperature readings within 1 degree F of NWS equipment. This suggests that the solar radiation shield installed on our 107 probe at time of station automation has skewed daily high temperatures in weather record upward. Perhaps the greatest influence was on sunny days with little breeze as these shelters are naturally aspirated. A photograph of the two radiation shields is available as browse graphic above.
Treefall across power line caused power outage from December 24 2008 to December 28 2008. The measurement of snowfall that occured during that period was delayed because the tipping bucket rain gauge heater was not fuctional during that period.
June 4 2009. Two half hour periods (1400 and 1500) are missing data due to wire rerouting., There was no rainfal during that period.

Lineage:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field
Methodology_Description:: These data are collected using a Campbell Scientific CR-10 data logger, a Campbell Scientific 107 temperature probe in a passively aspirated radiation shield 62 inches above ground , and a MetOne 12 inch heated (series 385) tipping bucket rain guage, top of funnel is 56 inches above ground. Data are summarized on the CR-10 (link to CR-10 ASCII program: http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/weather/stations/ftv_coop/curprg.dld) and uploaded to a server every 30 minutes using PC208W software.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:: Within five days of the end of the month the data are summarized by day, reviewed and error checked by looking for outliers. Outliers are addressed as needed using a consumer grade weather station on site for reference (rarely needed). The summary is sent to to the National Weather Service and is incorporated into their long term data set.
Process_Date: Unknown

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:: The data files: FortValleyEF_meteorology_current_year.csv and FortValleyEF_meteorology_past_year.csv are comma delimited ASCII text file. The first line of the data set includes the variable names: cfg, Year, Dayofyr, Time, BattVolt, IntTempC, TempObsF, TempMaxF, TimeMax, TempMinF, TimeMin, Precip01in
which are further described below.

cfg = configuration code;
Year = year of observation in format yyyy;
Dayofyr = numeric day of year (ex Jan 1 = 1, Dec 31 = 365 in non-leap years);
Time = Mountain Standard Time (MST) of observation. (ex 1:30 am = 130, 10:00 pm = 2200);
BattVolt = voltage of gel cell battery in weather station;
IntTempC = temperature (degrees Celcius) inside of station enclosure (measured for internal purposes only);
TempObsF = temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) at time of observation as indicated in Time field;
TempMaxF = maximum temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) for half hour period (temperature measured every 2 seconds);
TimeMax = MST of maximum temperature for half hour period;
TempMinF = minimum temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) for half hour period (temperature measured every 2 seconds);
TimeMin = MST of minimum temperature for half hour period;
Precip01in = total precipitation for half hour period in hundredths of inches (ex 12 = .12 inches)
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:: none

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station

Contact_Position: Station Archivist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 240 West Prospect Road
City: Fort Collins
State_or_Province: Colorado
Postal_Code: 80526

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 970-498-1206

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 970-498-1100

Distribution_Liability:

This metadata document has been reviewed for accuracy and completeness. The data are considered to satisfy the Rocky Mountain Research Station's quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. However, the Forest Service cannot assure the reliability or suitability of these data for a particular purpose. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the Forest Service for a user's application of these data or related materials.

The metadata, data, or related materials may be updated without notification. If a user believes errors are present in the metadata, data or related materials, please use the information in (1) Identification Information: Point of Contact, (2) Metadata Reference: Metadata Contact, or (3) Distribution Information: Distributor to notify the Forest Service of the issues. Additional information is available at http://www.fs.fed.us/qoi.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: ASCII
Format_Version_Date: 2006
File_Decompression_Technique: No compression applied

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/data_archive/dataaccess/FortValleyEF_30min_meteorology.shtml

Fees: none

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20080708

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Statistics Unit

Contact_Position: Station Archivist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 240 West Prospect Road
City: Fort Collins
State_or_Province: Colorado
Postal_Code: 80526

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 970-498-1206

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 970-498-1100

Metadata_Standard_Name: Content Standard for National Biological Information Infrastructure Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999