QARTOD Project Plan Update 2022–2026.

Abstract

The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) of Real-Time Oceanographic Data (QARTOD) Project Plan was established in early 2012 and has now reached its ten-year anniversary. This report marks that ten-year point by documenting QARTOD history and successes, and then outlining opportunities for future accomplishments.

The first QARTOD project plan provided guidance for how the QARTOD process would work. A subsequent update created the existing manual format, adopted a flagging standard for QARTOD manuals, and documented efforts to implement QC tests.

This third iteration of the project plan is different from the other plans/updates in that it shifts the focus from an IOOS-led effort to a community-driven development of QARTOD manuals. This update is designed to help communities whose variables of interest (any variable relevant to IOOS but particularly biogeochemical variables) are not yet ready for a traditional QARTOD QC manual but are likely to benefit from the development of a QA/QC standardized process in the near future. This update helps provide a framework for those communities moving forward.