National Estuarine Research Reserve System - NERRS - Meteorological Data

Meteorological data provide information on atmospheric conditions that can affect water quality and biological and physical processes. Core elements currently measured at each National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) include air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Optional parameters include total solar radiation.Each site maintains at least one meteorological station. Stations are placed at locations typical of local conditions or in areas where a specific need for weather data has been identified. Data are reported at 15 minute intervals. Prior to 2007, hourly and daily average data were also reported. The National Estuarine Research Reserves is a network of 30 reserves protected for long-term research, ecosystem monitoring, education, and coastal stewardship. Established by the Coastal Zone Management Act, the reserve system is a partnership program between NOAA and the coastal states. NOAA provides funding, national guidance, and technical assistance. Each reserve is managed on daily basis by a lead state agency or university with input from local partners. These data are collected as part of the NERRS System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP), which includes (1) abiotic indicators of water quality and weather, (2) biological monitoring, and (3) watershed, habitat, and land use mapping. Data were collected under individual Reserve NOAA grant/cooperative agreements and managed by the CDMO under NOAA grant/cooperative agreement #NA24NOSX420C0061-T1-01 (2024) and prior grants. For more information on Reserve locations and programs, please visit www.nerrsdata.org or https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/.

To identify and track short-term variability and long-term changes in the integrity and biodiversity of representative estuarine ecosystems and coastal watersheds for the purpose of contributing to effective national, regional and site specific coastal zone management.

Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 10168, 10-31-2017 15:35

NERRS Centralized Data Management Office - CDMO

cdmodata@baruch.sc.edu

843-904-9003

Parameters and units

Frequency:15 minute collection interval.

ATemp: Average air temperature measured in degrees Celsius (C).

RH: Average relative humidity measured in percent saturation (%).

BP: Average barometric pressure measured in millibars (mb).

WSpd: Average wind speed measured in meters per second (m/s).

MaxWSpd:Max wind speed measured in meters per second (m/s).

MaxWSpdT:Time of max wind speed measurement (hh:mm).

Wdir: Average direction from which the wind originates measured in degrees from true North as of April 1, 2008. Prior to April 1, 2008 wind direction was measured with no correction for magnetic declination. See Reserve metadata for exact date of shift to true North.

SDWDir: Wind direction standard deviation (sd).

TotPAR: Photosynthetically active radiation measured in millimoles per square meter (total flux integrated - totalized - over each 15 minute logging interval).

TotPrcp: Total precipitation measured in millimeters (mm).

CumPrcp: Cumulative precipitation measured in millimeters (mm) over a 24 hour period. Note that data reported at the midnight timestamp (00:00) are the sum of raw (unrounded) precipitation data from 00:00 to 23:59 of the previous day.*

TotSoRad: 15 minute average of total solar radiation measured in watts per square meter.**

The Federal government does not assume liability to the Recipient or third persons, nor will the Federal government reimburse or indemnify the Recipient for its liability due to any losses resulting in any way from the use of this data.The data are only as accurate as the quality assurance and quality control procedures allow. These procedures are descibed in the detailed metadata statement enclosed within any data transmission. The user bears all responsibility for its subsequent use/misuse in any further analyses or comparisons.

None

NOAA retains the right to analyze, synthesize and publish summaries of the NERRS System-wide Monitoring Program data. The NERRS retains the right to be fully credited for having collected and process the data. Following academic courtesy standards, the NERR site where the data were collected should be contacted and fully acknowledged in any subsequent publications in which any part of the data are used. The data enclosed within this package/transmission are only as accurate as the quality assurance and quality control procedures that are described in the associated metadata reporting statement allow. The user bears all responsibility for its subsequent use/misuse in any further analyses or comparisons. The Federal government does not assume liability to the Recipient or third persons, nor will the Federal government reimburse or indemnify the Recipient for its liability due to any losses resulting in any way from the use of this data. Requested citation format: NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS). System-wide Monitoring Program. Data accessed from the NOAA NERRS Centralized Data Management Office website: www.nerrsdata.org/; accessed 12 August 2024.

Datasets contain all 15-minute samples throughout the year unless otherwise noted

All NERR SWMP data incur primary data QAQC (automated checks) at the CDMO within one week of data retrieval as the provisional data are ingested into the CDMO database. The data are then emailed back to the Reserve where Reserve staff use tools provided by the CDMO, Microsoft Excel macros, to perform secondary QAQC on the data. Data that have been through secondary QAQC are submitted back to the CDMO and ingested into the database quarterly and again annually; these data are posted as provisional plus. After annual submission to the CDMO is complete, the data undergo final tertiary QAQC by the CDMO. The data and its accompanying metadata documentation are checked for completeness before dissemination as authenticated historical data via the CDMO Online Data Information Server at www.nerrsdata.org. Processing/QAQC stages are clearly denoted within the data file transmission and are ongoing, the process date given below reflects the years this metadata record was created.

Data are archived with a robust backup protocol by the NERRS CDMO.

Data were run through automated quality assurance/quality control (QAQC) checks for sensor range, missing, or garbled data. Field checks are performed monthly to ensure that equipment is operating properly. Sensors are calibrated per manufacturer's instructions and CDMO protocols. Additional QAQC is performed by Reserve staff and the CDMO as described at: www.nerrsdata.org/data/qaqc.cfm.