Data Quality

The WOUDC data are subject to the Global Atmosphere Watch quality assurance system and the oversight of the Scientific Advisory Groups on ozone and solar ultraviolet radiation.

Global Atmosphere Watch

The primary objectives of the GAW quality assurance system are to ensure that the data in the World Data Centres are consistent, of known and adequate quality, supported by comprehensive metadata, and sufficiently complete to describe global atmospheric states with respect to spatial and temporal distribution.

Scientific Advisory Groups

The SAG on ozone and solar ultraviolet radiation establish data quality objectives and standard operating procedures outlining measurement methods and procedures.251

The SAG ensure that all data produced by the system conform to international standards, via the following calibration centres:

• WMO GAW World Calibration Centre for Dobson total ozone measurements (Global Monitoring Division, NOAA)
• WMO GAW World Calibration Centre for Brewer total ozone measurements (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
• WMO GAW World Calibration Centre for ozonesonde measurements (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany)

Environment and Climate Change Canada

The WOUDC is operated by the Department of the Environment (referred to as Environment and Climate Change Canada) and undertakes the following activities:

• Provides guidelines for submitting data;
• Checks submitted data for necessary format elements and the availability of comprehensive metadata and reject the submission of data that do not meet these formal criteria;
• Performs plausibility and consistency checks on submitted data, flag data problems, and provide feedback to the stations, when necessary;
• Provides collection of data user feedback;
• Shares results of quality assessment and user feedback with data contributors so that data can be corrected or corrective actions can be taken as required; and
• Provides data access mechanisms.