SGP Surface Conditions Observations by Site Technicians (SURFLOG)

Information updated on Mon May 24 16:59:19 2004

General Data Description

Surface conditions observations made by SGP site technicians during maintenance visits to Extended Facilities. Each file contains all the visits to all the facilities within a given month. Each facility is visited approximately every two weeks. The data are extracted from the SGP MetaData System (MDS) database. More information on the contents of this database is available at http://www.db.arm.gov/MDS/

Data Stream Names

sgpsurflogC1.c1

Measurement Description

The information provided for each visit to each facility includes
the following:

        the facility visited (type and number)
        the start and end time of the visit to the facility
        the time at which this entry was put into the MDS
        the name of the Site Technician who made the observation
        integer code for the sky condition at the time of the visit (clear,
                scattered, broken, overcast, obscured)
        integer code for the weather type at the time of the visit (none, 
                fog, haze, drizzle, rain, snow)
        the temperature (deg. C), humidity (%), pressure (mb), wind 
                direction (deg.) and wind speed (m/s) at the time of the visit
        any comments about the visit to the facility - note reference
                to request for comments in various fields below.

                
        The description of the vegetation is different for different
        types of Extended Facilities.

        For facilities containing SIROS, SMOS and/or EBBR the following
observations are made about the fenced areas containing the instrumentation:

        integer code for vegetation type 1 (mostly uniform grass,
                mostly clumped grass, unanticipated conditions (see comments))
        integer code for vegetation type 2 (native prairie, derived from
                grazed grasslands, unanticipated conditions (see comments))
        integer code for vegetation condition ("lush green, unwilted",
                "fully green but noticeably wilted", "green w/brown patches
                because of hot, dry weather", "mostly brown due to hot,
                dry weather", "brown due to freezing conditions")
        integer code for soil conditions (dry and dusty, moist but not
                muddy, muddy or standing water)
        integer code for amount of moisture on vegetation (dry, slightly
                wet because of rain or dew, mostly wet because of rain
                or dew, covered or partially covered with ice, 0 -25% snow
                covered, 25-50% snow covered, 50-75% snow covered,
                75-90% snow covered, 90-100% snow covered)
        approximate height of vegetation inside the fence (m)
        approximate height of vegetation outside the fence (m)

        
        For facilities with EBBRs the following additional observations 
        are made:

       
        integer code answering question "was vegetation trimmed during 
                visit?" (yes, no N/A)
        vegetation height inside EBBR fence after trimming (m)
        vegetation height outside EBBR fence after trimming (m)
        integer code for vegetation inside EBBR fence is mostly (grassy,
                broadleaf)
        integer code for vegetation outside EBBR fence is mostly (grassy,
                broadleaf)

        
        For facilities with ECOR stations, the following observations are
        made:
        integer code answering question: "instrument installed yet?" 
                (y, n, N/A)
        integer code answering question "unanticipated vegetation?" 
                (n, y-see comments)
        integer code answering question "pasture or rangeland?" (y, n, N/A)
        integer code for conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station vegetation type 1(mostly uniform grass, mostly
                clumped grass)
        integer code for conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station vegetation type 2(native prairie, derived from 
                grazed grasslands)
        integer code answering question "mostly bare soil?"(yes, no, N/A)
        integer code for conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station answering question "winter wheat?"(yes, no, N/A)
        integer code for winter wheat conditions in tilled field south 
                of ECOR ("partial soil coverage because plants are small",
                "green, ground covered", "yellow but unharvested", "stubble
                after harvest", "stubble mostly covered with green weeds
                after harvest")
        integer code for conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station answering question "row crops?"(yes, no, N/A)
        integer code for row crop conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station type 1(soybeans, peanuts, sorghum, corn, wheat,
                other row crop (see comments), alfalfa)
        integer code for row crop conditions in tilled field south of ECOR
                station type 2 ("partial soil coverage because plants are small",
                "green, ground covered", "yellow but unharvested", "only
                debris left after harvest", "debris mostly covered with green 
                weeds after harvest")
        integer code for vegetation condition in tilled field south 
                of ECOR ("lush green, unwilted","fully green but noticeably 
                wilted", "green w/brown patches because of hot, dry weather", 
                "mostly brown due to hot, dry weather", "brown due to freezing 
                conditions", "all or mostly bare soil")
        integer code for soil conditions in tilled field south 
                of ECOR (dry and dusty, moist but not muddy, muddy or 
                standing water)
        integer code for amount of moisture on vegetaion or soil conditions in 
                tilled field south of ECOR (dry, slightly
                wet because of rain or dew, mostly wet because of rain
                or dew, covered or partially covered with ice, 0 -25% snow
                covered, 25-50% snow covered, 50-75% snow covered,
                75-90% snow covered, 90-100% snow covered)
        approximate height of vegetation in tilled field south of ECOR 
                station (m)

Temporal Coverage

Data files are available from October 24, 1995 to April 2, 2002.

Area Covered

Information on Location of SGP Extended Facilities

Data Stream Inputs

sgpsurflogC1.a0.yyyymm01.000000.raw.asc

Notification Form Link

Notification Form

Contacts

ARM Mentor

Richard Wagener

ARM Software Developer

Laurie Gregory