EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) , established in 2000 as a research project, is the first aerosol lidar network which attempts to retrieve quantitative data on the vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties in a systematic and statistically significant approach and on a continental scale. Therefore, the main effort as well as the main achievements are in the development of methods. Strong emphasis is on making the results from all stations and all times comparable, because this is essential for the use of joint data sets in all studies involving several stations (Pappalardo et al., 2014). EARLINET is a key component of the ACTRIS infrastructure (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure), which represents a big step towards a better coordination of the atmospheric observations in Europe towards the establishment of the European component of an Integrated Atmospheric Global System as part of GEOSS, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS, 2005). EARLINET is also a contributing network to the GAW Programme. At present, 31 stations distributed all over Europe are part of the network (fig. 1). Each station of the network has a PI (Principal Investigator) and key personnel. EARLINET institutional members are obliged to follow the rules as defined in the EARLINET constitution. These include (among others) the performance of regular measurements and regular quality assessment. n order to guarantee the highest possible quality of the final products, and at the same time to ensure the homogeneity of data from different types of lidar systems, EARLINET/ACTRIS network has implemented a rigorous quality assurance program that all affiliated stations are expected to meet (Freudenthaler et al., 2018; Matthais et al., 2004). The implementation of the quality assurance program has been, and still is, one of the main activities of EARLINET/ACTRIS network, and is a prerequisite to establish and monitor over time the performance of different Lidar systems that are part of the network. The quality control of EARLINET applies to both lidar instruments and analysis algorithms levels. EARLINET users enabled to upload products on the database are called Data Originators (DO) while other users are usually referred as external users. Products can be uploaded through a Data Processor interface, which is a password protected web server interface. In this report we describe the EARLINET Quality Control procedures. When a data originator uploads a product, in order to be sure that it comes with the highest possible quality, two types of quality control are applied : ? Basic quality control (BQC) : it is a series of technical controls in order to verify the input product datafile integrity. ? Advanced quality control (AQC) : it is a set of physical controls applied to the content of the product. Products not passing all the BQC are not accepted by the datacenter. Products that overcome all the BQC and fail in any one of the AQC are accepted by the datacenter but are labeled as Level 1. Finally, products passing all the BQC and AQC are accepted and labeled as Level 2.
Report on the EARLINET database Quality Control procedures
Francesco Amato;Giuseppe D'Amico;Lucia Mona;Gelsomina Pappalardo
2018
Abstract
EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) , established in 2000 as a research project, is the first aerosol lidar network which attempts to retrieve quantitative data on the vertical distribution of aerosol optical properties in a systematic and statistically significant approach and on a continental scale. Therefore, the main effort as well as the main achievements are in the development of methods. Strong emphasis is on making the results from all stations and all times comparable, because this is essential for the use of joint data sets in all studies involving several stations (Pappalardo et al., 2014). EARLINET is a key component of the ACTRIS infrastructure (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure), which represents a big step towards a better coordination of the atmospheric observations in Europe towards the establishment of the European component of an Integrated Atmospheric Global System as part of GEOSS, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS, 2005). EARLINET is also a contributing network to the GAW Programme. At present, 31 stations distributed all over Europe are part of the network (fig. 1). Each station of the network has a PI (Principal Investigator) and key personnel. EARLINET institutional members are obliged to follow the rules as defined in the EARLINET constitution. These include (among others) the performance of regular measurements and regular quality assessment. n order to guarantee the highest possible quality of the final products, and at the same time to ensure the homogeneity of data from different types of lidar systems, EARLINET/ACTRIS network has implemented a rigorous quality assurance program that all affiliated stations are expected to meet (Freudenthaler et al., 2018; Matthais et al., 2004). The implementation of the quality assurance program has been, and still is, one of the main activities of EARLINET/ACTRIS network, and is a prerequisite to establish and monitor over time the performance of different Lidar systems that are part of the network. The quality control of EARLINET applies to both lidar instruments and analysis algorithms levels. EARLINET users enabled to upload products on the database are called Data Originators (DO) while other users are usually referred as external users. Products can be uploaded through a Data Processor interface, which is a password protected web server interface. In this report we describe the EARLINET Quality Control procedures. When a data originator uploads a product, in order to be sure that it comes with the highest possible quality, two types of quality control are applied : ? Basic quality control (BQC) : it is a series of technical controls in order to verify the input product datafile integrity. ? Advanced quality control (AQC) : it is a set of physical controls applied to the content of the product. Products not passing all the BQC are not accepted by the datacenter. Products that overcome all the BQC and fail in any one of the AQC are accepted by the datacenter but are labeled as Level 1. Finally, products passing all the BQC and AQC are accepted and labeled as Level 2.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
