SOP for Meteorological Monitoring Data
TABLE OF CONTENTS (click on a topic below to jump to that section):

Getting Started

Meteorological Data Import
K.(Met) Update Met Units
L.(Met) Qualify Met Data
L(1)Met Qualify Met Data Based On Ranges
L(2)Met Qualify Met Data Using External Information
M(Met). Transfer to Met Data Archive
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Additional Considerations for Data Importing
GETTING STARTED
From the Main Switchboard, click on the “Continuous and Meteorological Monitoring” button
under the “Routine Data Operations” category.
The following window will open. All of the meteorological monitoring operations can be
accessed from this window.
METEOROLOGICAL DATA IMPORT
Many of the processes involved with importing meteorological data into the Toolbox are parallel
to those in the “SOP for Continuous (Gas and PM) Data.”
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A – J:
Step A (NewImport.txt file creation) through Step J (Sample Start/End Time Correction) are
the same for importing pollutant and meteorological data, therefore follow the steps outlined
in the SOP for Continuous (Gas and PM) Data. The only difference is that when setting up
the transfer of data from the tblDataImport to the tblDataVerification table (Step E), you will
be assigning column names (field names) for meteorological rather than pollutant data in the
“Append To” row of the query design grid.
When you get to Step K (Update Selected Pollutant and Units) in the continuous SOP, then
proceed with this SOP for meteorological data.
K(Met). Update Met Units:
The “Continue to Import and Qualify Meteorological Data” button (on the form Transfer To
Verification Table) opens the form shown below.
1. Begin by selecting the units of your data from the boxes on the left hand side of the
form. There may be some boxes that do not correspond with your data. (For
example, you may not collect solar radiation data.) If this is the case, do not select a
value in that box. If you have accidentally selected a value, you can click on the
“Clear All Selections” button to reset the boxes. Note: After your first complete
import for a site and sampler, the Toolbox selects the units based on the units of your
most recent import. If these units are not correct for your current import, you can
select different units.
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2. Once you have finished selecting the units, click on the purple “Update Selected Met
Units” button to populate the unit fields.
3. Click “Yes” when you receive the message box about running an update query.
Verify that the number of records that are being updated in the second message box is
the same as the number of rows containing data in your NewImport.txt file (see your
database logbook) and click “Yes.”
L(Met). Qualifying (Flagging) Met Data:
The following steps allow you to review and assign initial qualifiers (flags). Initial qualifiers
do NOT exclude the data from AQS files that you can generate with the Toolbox or any
future calculations. These flags merely help you find the data for further analysis later; so
qualify any data that you have any questions about because doing so now will save you time
spent finding this data later. Once the data have been archived, you can decide if these
flagged data should be excluded from AQS and other calculations in the Final Data Review
and Invalidation process accessed from a separate form (for the complete list of Toolbox
flags, see the last page of the SOP for Final Data Review and Invalidation).
L(1)Met. Qualify Met Data Based On Ranges:
The next step on this form is to check that the meteorological data that you imported falls
within a reasonable range and to attach qualifiers (flags) if any data looks questionable.
If there are meteorological parameters that are not included in your import, they are
shown as grayed out parameters that you cannot enter a range for.
Note: The range checks on this form have default ranges that you can change by simply
typing over the default values. You might want to adjust the values based on the federal
method detection limit (MDL). The “Click Here to Research Most Current MDL Data”
link brings up the most current AQS sampling methodologies table for meteorological
data (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/airs/airsaqs/manuals/Protocols Sampl Meth - MET.xls).
You can use this table to research the MDL for the sampling methodology you collect
your data with. The “Display Out Of Range Data” buttons will only show data that are
out of the specified ranges.
There are two ways to check for data within the acceptable ranges. First, you must enter
the acceptable ranges for each meteorological parameter or use the default values.
1. Click on the “Display Out of Range Data” buttons for each of the meteorological
parameters that you want to check.
 If a message box pops up stating that there were not any data outside the
specified range, click OK on the message box and proceed to the next
“Display Out of Range Data” button on the form.
 If instead a query with data appears, the data in the query are outside the
range specified. Close the query window and click on the “Qualify These
Data” button directly to the right of the parameter that you wish to qualify.
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o Once you click on the “Qualify These Data” button, click “Yes”
when you receive the message box about running an update query.
o Verify that the number of records that are being updated in the
second message box is the same as the number of records shown in
the “Display Out of Range Data” query and click “Yes.”
o Proceed to the next “Display Out of Range Data” button.
2. Alternately, you can click on the “Display All Out of Range Met Data” button to
see all of the records that have one or more meteorological parameters that are out
of range.
 Click on the “Qualify All Out of Range Met Data” to flag all out of range
data.
L(2)Met. Qualify Met Data based on Dates:
This section pertains to data you want to flag based on information that is not in the
Toolbox, such as audit reports or field logbooks that indicated some potential problem
with the data, or even just a subset that you want to check later (if you don’t have this
information now, you can skip this step).
1. Select the first and last dates/times for the data you want to flag.
2. Select the meteorological parameter you want to flag.
3. Click on the purple “Display Data Within This Date/Time Range” button to
review the data; when you are finished reviewing it, close the query.
4. To add flags to the specified set of records, click on the “Qualify Data Within
This Date/Time Range for the Selected Met Parameter” button and a flag will be
added to each record within that date/time range.
5. Note the reason for flagging the data in your database logbook and reference the
material used (logbook name, date, etc.)
M(Met). Transfer to Met Data Archive:
1. Click the gray “Inspect Data Verification Table” button to review all the data you
have just imported and flagged (qualified).
a.) Scroll to the right to see all of the data columns (fields). Since you are
importing meteorological data, all of the pollutant concentration-related
data columns should be blank.
b.) Scroll down to see which records have flags in the Qualifier column
(field). If necessary, you can edit the flags directly in the table.
c.) When you are satisfied with the data, close the table.
2. Click on the purple “Transfer from Data Verification to Data Archive” button.
a.) Click “Yes” when you receive the message box about running an append
query.
o If you get a different message box indicating that the data have
already been archived, see the red box about duplicate data
following this section of the SOP.
b.) Verify that the number of records that are being transferred in the second
message box is the same as the number of records you just imported and
click “Yes.”
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3. Click on the gray “Inspect Data Archive Table” button to verify that the transfer
was successful.
a.) Scroll through the data to make sure that the data look reasonable.
b.) Once you have finished reviewing the data, close the table.
4. Click on the “Clear Data Verification Table” button to clear the Data Verification
table since the data were successfully transferred to the Data Archive Table.
a.) Click “Yes” when you receive the message box about running a delete
query.
b.) Verify that the number of records that are being cleared in the second
message box is the same as the number of records you just imported and
click “Yes.”
You now have three options.
1. If your NewImport.txt file that you have uploaded and archived data from
contains only meteorological data and you are done importing data for now, click
on the gray “Close Forms and Clear Data Import Table” button. Read the
message box and click “OK” to proceed with deleting the tblDataImport table.
Delete or move the NewImport.txt file you created in Step A from the
TribalDataToolbox_v2.1 folder on your C:\ drive (first making sure that you have
a copy of the original file saved somewhere).
2. If there are additional data in your NewImport.txt file that you would like to
upload, such as data for other pollutants, click on the gray “Enter Met Data or
Other Pollutant Concentration Data from the Same Text File” button. This button
will take you back to the “Transfer To Verification Table” form (Step E) where
you can upload the additional data.
3. If you have data from a different text file that you need to import, click on the
“Enter Met Data or Other Pollutant Concentration Data from a Different Text
File” button. This button will delete the tblDataImport table, and opens the “Data
Import” form where you can begin uploading a different text file. You will need
to delete or move the NewImport.txt file you created in Step A from the
TribalDataToolbox_v2.1 folder on your “Local Disk (C:)” drive (first ensuring
that you have saved a copy of the original file) and start the process from Step A.
Duplicate
Data
Note: If instead of the message box about running an append query, you get a
message box about the data already having been archived when you click on the
“Transfer from Data Verification to Data Archive” button, it means that some or
all of the data for the Site ID, Sampler ID, and date/time range that you are
attempting to transfer from the Data Verification table are already in the Data
Archive table. There are four different message boxes you could receive
depending on the amount of duplication your data. The following describes these
message boxes and how you need to proceed when you receive the relevant
message box in the Toolbox.
a) This is the message box you receive if all the data in the Data Verification table are in
the Data Archive table.
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

Proceed by clicking the OK button. This stops the transfer to the Data Archive
table.
Because the data have already been archived, you need to clear the Data
Verification table. Go back to Step M, sub-step 4 to complete this process.
b) This is the message box you receive if some of the data in the Data Verification table
are in the Data Archive table.
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In your database logbook, note the number of records that have already been
archived (duplicates) and the number of records that have not yet been archived,
as indicated by the message box.
Click the OK button. This continues the transfer to the Data Archive table.
You then get the message box about running an append query. Click Yes on this
message box.
Next, you get a message box telling you how many records are going to be
appended. Note that this is the total number of records in the Data Verification
table, even though some of them are duplicates. Click Yes on this message box.
Next you get a message box stating that all of the records cannot be appended.
Verify that the number of records that cannot be appended due to key violations is
the same as the number of duplicate records that you recorded in your database
logbook. Then click the Yes button. The duplicate records are not transferred to
the Data Archive table, however the records that are not duplicates are transferred.
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
Proceed with Step M, sub-step 3 to complete the data import process for those
records that are not duplicates.
c) This is the message box you receive if all the data in the Data Verification table are in
the Data Archive table, however the meteorological measurements are different.

Proceed by clicking the OK button. This stops the transfer to the Data Archive
table. Because the meteorological measurements are not the same, it could mean
that you assigned the wrong Site ID or Sampler ID to the data in the Data
Verification table or the Data Archive table. Please contact ITEP for tips on how
to proceed.
d) This is the message box you receive if some of the data in the Data Verification table
are in the Data Archive table and the duplicate data do not have the same meteorological
measurements.
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In your database logbook, note the number of records that have already been
archived (duplicates) and the number of records that have not yet been archived,
as indicated by the message box.
Click the OK button. This continues the transfer to the Data Archive table.
You then get the message box about running an append query. Click Yes on this
message box.
Next, you get a message box telling you how many records are going to be
appended. Note that this is the total number of records in the Data Verification
table, even though some of them are duplicates. Click Yes on this message box.
Next you get a message box stating that all of the records cannot be appended.
Verify that the number of records that cannot be appended due to key violations is
the same as the number of duplicate records that you recorded in your database
logbook. Then click the Yes button. The duplicate records are not transferred to
the Data Archive table, however the records that are not duplicates are transferred.
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
Proceed with Step M, sub-step 3 to complete the data import process for those
records that are not duplicates. For the duplicates, because the meteorological
measurements are not the same, it could mean that you assigned the wrong Site
ID or Sampler ID to the data in the Data Verification table or the Data Archive
table. If this is the case, please contact ITEP for tips on how to proceed.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR DATA IMPORTING:
If the columns (fields) are the same for every text file containing meteorological data that
you import, you only need to complete Step E (including sub-steps) the first time you import
data. However, it is a good idea to continue to click on the “Set Up Transfer to Data
Verification” button to make sure that all of the columns in the tblDataImport table
correspond with the correct columns in the tblDataVerification table.
If you import meteorological data with a different set of columns (from different equipment),
you may need to make updates to the query that is accessed when you click on the “Set Up
Transfer to Data Verification” button. To add columns (fields) that are not represented in the
design grid, but need to be imported into the Toolbox, double click on the desired field in the
tblDataImport column (field) selector box. This will add the column header (field name) into
the design grid and allow you to choose a corresponding column (field) in the “Append To”
row. If you do not see an appropriate field in the “Append To” row, it is most likely not
necessary to import it into the Toolbox. Contact ITEP if you have questions on which fields
should be imported into the Toolbox.
Also, if any of the columns (fields) in the design grid start with “Expr” when you import data
from different equipment, they need to be deleted. To do this, click at the top of the column
to highlight the entire column (a small down-pointing black arrow will appear first). Click
DELETE. Make sure you save the query after making changes.
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