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Climate Data Summarizer Version 3.2 May 12, 2011 Program Written By: Conceptual Advice and Software Testing By: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD VERSION 3.2 of the Climate Data Summarizer (12 mb) Click here to download a pdf file showing all the graph types currently available Click here to download the INSTRUCTION MANUAL Click here to download example data files - use these to test the program Version 3.2 contains some minor bug fixes, including improved handling of Stream Gage files. Version 3.1 contains minor bug fixes relative to 3.0, including improved handling of SNOTEL files Thanks to everyone that has provided bug reports and feedback. The Climate Data Screener and Summarizer is a stand-alone, graphical user interface (GUI-driven) analysis package designed to facilitate the quality-checking / quality assurance (QC/QA) and summary of climate data. Version 3.0 reads data from the three types of climate stations: the Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) administered by the National Weather Service, the Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) network run by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and stream gauges operated by the United States Geological Survey. Nothing needs to be installed on the user’s computer. You need only Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. Analysis is conducted with mouse clicks on a set of menus. No coding or command line entry needed.
There are 5 different summary tables and 18 graph types available to the user, as well as a small set of tools that facilitate the presentation and pre-processing of data files. Program outputs include the calculation of monthly totals / averages and their departure from 30-year averages, annual statistics such as Accumulated Growing Degree Days (AGDD), freeze / frost dates and extreme day counts. However, rather than blindly calculating these summary statistics, the software uses a set of decision rules to determine whether there is enough data of sufficient quality to justify such a calculation. Months that do not pass quality standards are reported as missing. In some of our past work, we spent a lot of time combining individual graphics into images that would display properly on an 8.5 x 11 sheet paper. It doesn’t make sense to put just one graph on a page, but it often isn’t obvious how many to put on a page or how big to make each graph. Will the font be too small if we put three graphs on a page? If the ratio of width – length isn’t right, will the graph be smashed into a thin template? In light of this experience, the Climate Data Summarizer has been designed to produce finished pages with graphs for multiple weather stations arranged in a grid. In order to produce these graphics, the user is guided through the selection of station data files and is asked how the layout should appear on the page. Notice in the screenshot below, for example, that three stations have been added to the list and the user can specify the number of rows x columns for the graph grid and the color for each weather station.
Graphics are saved at 300 dots per inch (DPI) with fonts and other specifications that make them suitable for professional publication. The program contains error-checking routines that help the user avoid common mistakes. For example, if a user opens a data file in Microsoft excel and resaves it with default settings, the format in which the dates are written might be changed automatically, without the user’s knowledge (e.g. from YYYY-MM-DD to mm/DD/YY). This would normally make the file unreadable, but the Climate Data Summarizer is written to detect this change and read dates in other (Microsoft standard) formats. The user is also warned to avoid this mistake in the future. Funding for this work was provided in part by the US National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program. We thank the following NPS staff, who provided helpful suggestions during various phases of the project: Isabel Ashton, Stacey Ostermann-Kelm, Rob Daley, and Cathie Jean. This software is free and may be distributed to anyone. The authorship notice may not be removed and the program may not be modified before distribution. If the program is modified, the authors accept no responsibility for any errors that may be introduced. We welcome suggestions and constructive criticism. Would you like to see a new feature in the program? Maybe you are interested in analyzing other climate parameters like snowpack? Do you need the capability to read other data types? Have you found a bug? Send email to: Information@YellowstoneEcology.com The statistical methods used by this program are relatively simple: means, totals, counts and basic climatological formulae. . ..The great value of the program is it's ability to perform thousands of tedious calculations across mutltiple data files, even in the face of missing values and formatting irregularities.. There are more complex applications for our programming techniques. It is possible to develop graphical user interfaces that use advanced statistical techniques, including multivariate methods. Please contact us if you believe our services might be useful. |
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