DBCP Quality Control Guidelines: written August 2000, updated 2009.

Abstract

Quality control procedures, jointly developed and implemented by the DBCP, GTS Data Processing centres and the operators buoys, currently ensure that surface observations are validated in real-time before insertion on to the GTS (see DBCP Technical Document No. 2). Sub-surface (e.g., from the TAO array) data are further controlled by NOAA / NDBC. Several other bodies (ECMWF, national weather and oceanographic agencies, GDC, ISDM, etc.) contribute to an active off-line assessment of data quality. A well-defined (see Annex A) feedback mechanism ensures that any interventions arising from this off-line quality control (e.g., modifications to individual sensor transfer functions) are implemented into the real-time data processing chain in a coordinated and audit-able fashion. Some history of the mechanism is given below.