Over the years a number of protocols for the QA/QC of chemical data and other discrete oceanographic measurements have been developed either in the frame of large oceanographic research programmes or within individual data centres, research institutes, or survey laboratories. Our aim here is to compile a list of these protocols and to link them to clear documentation describing the main steps taken for QA/QC process. This review will be used to select common best practices and to identify inconsistencies, needs for standardisation and gaps in existing procedures. The result of this initial survey will help us to select a number of key issues which will need to be discussed at the QA/QC workshop in February 2010. In a first instance, participants to the workshop are invited to provide documents describing existing procedures applicable to measurements made on discrete samples which are either in use in their own institution or known to them. Follow the example below for file naming and protocol description. QA/QC protocols with emphasis on biogeochemical sensors are also currently being compiled by the OceanSITES Working Group on Quality Control of Biogeochemical data. These protocols can be accessed via the following link: http://www.jcommops.org/oceansites/QC_BCG. |
Protocol 1 is bottle QC procedures for the Institute Maurice Lamontagne provided by Laure Devine, IML, Canada.
Protocol 2 is Conkright ME, Boyer TP & Levitus S (1994). Quality control and processing of historical oceanographic nutrient data. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 79.
wod09readme.pdf is the documentation for the World Ocean database 2009 version. This document includes quality control tests.
Data filter.pdf and Data filter II.pdf attached are two papers provided to me by Michael Gardner, chair of the UK National Marine Chemistry Advisory Group. The papers describe a data filter developed in the frame of the UK National Marine Analytical Quality Control Scheme for assessing the fitness for purpose of data submitted as part of environmental monitoring programmes. Although oceanographic data centres tend to deal mainly with data collected in the frame of research activities and as such operate in a less formal and controlled environment, the concept of the data filter is an interesting solution to providing quality assessment taking into account a wide range of criteria, including tests carried out by originators.
2009 01 27-30 GEBICH BGC data QC & analysis.ppt is a file I made a year ago. Besides different issues of QA/QC, I tried to draw the listeners' attention to that fact that "Quality Assurance", "Quality Control", "Quality Assessment" are often mixed. So, when we discuss "Existing Protocols", we are to recognize/identify their purpose: (i) to assure that the analytical results are of proven and known quality; (ii) to control the quality of BGC data generated by different groups; (iii) to assess the quality of currently generated data and of historical data.
QC-11.08.ppt and QC DESCRIPTION.ppt are two short presentations to demonstrate practical approaches utilized in MHI for Quality Assessment of data.
MHI Climate O2 & Si.pdf is a set of plots on the issue of the climate data range issue. The data range control is the very powerful method of BGC data assessment. It is very productive to use this method, but we have to acknowledge that there are not only spatial and basin-to-basin variations in the data range, but there are real temporal variations for the very same area/basin at different time scales (seasonal to decadal).