Rotronics Sensor & Barometer

All ten buoys throughout the bay are equipped with a Rotronics MP 101A-T7 and a Vaisala PTB 110. The Rotronics instrument measures the relative humidity, air temperature and dew point. The Vaisala barometer measures the atmospheric pressure.

Rotronics relative humidity and air temperature sensors are deployed on all ten buoys throughout the Chesapeake Bay.

All ten buoys throughout the Chesapeake Bay are equipped with Rotronics and Vaisala instruments in order to measure atmospheric variables.

The data is all available free to the public in real-time on the following website: http://buoybay.noaa.gov. The files with custom date ranges are available to download in .csv file format. The data can also be accessed at other sites, including http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/ .

The data is not restricted and is available real-time to the public.

Currently, the CBIBS data is quality controlled in the CBIBS middleware system acting on incoming data. The data gets associated with a QC flag based on threshold values set for each parameter and the buoy status. The various flags include: -1 = Unknown(NaN), 0 = Good Data, 1 = Buoy Offline, 2 = Hard Limit Test Failed, 3 = Filled Value. The data will continue to be quality controlled in this way until QARTOD (Quality Assurance of Real-Time Ocean Data) standards are implemented or if the QARTOD standards are not used for a particular parameter.

QARTOD QC Tests will be applied in a module of the CBIBS middleware, acting on incoming data at 60 minute intervals and returning resultant flag values, which are stored with the data. Parameters for the tests, which can vary by Buoy, Sensor, Measurement Parameter, and Test Type, are stored in a dynamically accessible and editable QC Test matrix. There are Primary and Secondary Flags; Primary flags represent overall Data Quality, based on QARTOD Tests; Secondary flags complement the first level by providing the justification for the quality flags, based on quality control tests or data processing history.

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All data operations and storage take place on secure FISMA-compliant servers.

The Rotronics and Vaisala instrument report an averaged measurement every ten minutes. The data is sent to the Watchman500 in the buoy in ASCII string format. The strings are then sent via cellular antenna to a shoreside server, where it is processed (including Qa/Qc flagging), and then put online and is available to download.