BOREAS RSS-03 Reflectance Measured from a Helicopter-Mounted SE-590

7.3 Data Characteristics

7.3.1 Parameter/Variable

The parameters contained in the data files on the CD-ROM are:

Reference File
         Column Name
------------------------------
SITE_NAME
SUB_SITE
DATE_OBS
TIME
OP_GRID_INFO
PLATFORM_ALTITUDE
ELEVATION
SOLAR_ZEN_ANG
SOLAR_AZ_ANG
SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE
SUN_PHOTO_TIME
INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_THICK_550
COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR
COVER_TYPE
HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID
CRTFCN_CODE
REVISION_DATE


7.3.2 Variable Description/Definition

The descriptions of the parameters contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

Reference File
         Column Name                             Description
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      The identifier assigned to the site by BOREAS, 
                               in the format SSS-TTT-CCCCC, where SSS identifies
                               the portion of the study area: NSA, SSA, REG, 
                               TRN, and TTT identifies the cover type for the
                               site, 999 if unknown, and CCCCC is the identifier
                               for site, exactly what it means will vary with 
                               site type.
SUB_SITE                       The identifier assigned to the sub-site by 
                               BOREAS, in the format GGGGG-IIIII, where GGGGG is 
                               the group associated with the sub-site 
                               instrument e.g. HYD06 or STAFF, and IIIII is the 
                               identifier for sub-site, often this will refer to 
                               an instrument.
DATE_OBS                       The date on which the data were collected.
TIME                           The Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) when the data were
                               collected.
OP_GRID_INFO                   The site identifier used by this RSS team during
                               the execution of field operations.  This is used
                               to further link data to site information 
                               contained elsewhere..
PLATFORM_ALTITUDE              The nominal altitude of the data collection 
                               platform above the target.
ELEVATION                      The elevation of the site above mean sea level.
SOLAR_ZEN_ANG                  The angle from the surface normal (straight up)
                               to the sun during data collection.
SOLAR_AZ_ANG                   Direction referred to as a circular scale of 
                               degrees read clockwise describing the position of 
                               the sun where 0=north, 90=east, 180=south, and
                               270=west.
SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE               Indicator of the source of the sun photometer
                               measurements used in atmospheric correction, 
                               where helo=helicopter sunphotometer, NSA-YJP = 
                               NSA-YJP tower site, Thom = Thompson airport 
                               (NSA), SSA-YJP = SSA-YJP tower site.
SUN_PHOTO_TIME                 The time of the sun photometer measurement used
                               in atmopheric correction.
INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_THICK_550   The aerosol optical depth interpolated to 550 
                               nanometers, used in the atmospheric correction.
COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR             The amount of precipitable water within a 
                               vertical column of air with a cross-section of 1 
                               centimeter squared and a fixed depth (usually 
                               from the ground to the top of the atmosphere).
COVER_TYPE                     The dominant species, vegetation or type of land
                               cover that exists at the location.
HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID               Identifier, given as Mon-Day-(A/B/C), whose 
                               letter identifies the particular flight on a 
                               given day, used in the helo log file.
CRTFCN_CODE                    The BOREAS certification level of the data.  
                               Examples are CPI (Checked by PI), CGR (Certified 
                               by Group), PRE (Preliminary), and CPI-??? (CPI 
                               but questionable).
REVISION_DATE                  The most recent date when the information in the
                               referenced data base table record was revised.


The OP_GRID_INFO in the SE590 reference data are tightly linked to the 
Helicopter log documentation;  much information relevant to the location of the 
observation and the conditions at the time are available in the log. 

7.3.3 Unit of Measurement

The measurement units for the parameters contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

Reference File
         Column Name                                Units
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      [none]
SUB_SITE                       [none]
DATE_OBS                       [DD-MON-YYYY]
TIME                           [HHMMSS GMT]
OP_GRID_INFO                   [none]
PLATFORM_ALTITUDE              [meters]
ELEVATION                      [meters]
SOLAR_ZEN_ANG                  [degrees]
SOLAR_AZ_ANG                   [degrees]
SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE               [none]
SUN_PHOTO_TIME                 [HHMMSS GMT]
INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_THICK_550   [unitless]
COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR             [millimeters]
COVER_TYPE                     [none]
HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID               [none]
CRTFCN_CODE                    [none]
REVISION_DATE                  [DD-MON-YYYY]


7.3.4 Data Source

The source of the parameter values contained in the data files on
the CD-ROM are:

Reference File
         Column Name                             Data Source
------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME                      [Assigned by BORIS Staff]
SUB_SITE                       [Assigned by BORIS Staff]
DATE_OBS                       [Controller]
TIME                           [Controller]
OP_GRID_INFO                   [RSS03 team]
PLATFORM_ALTITUDE              [NASA Helicopter]
ELEVATION                      [Experiment Plan]
SOLAR_ZEN_ANG                  [Calculated by software]
SOLAR_AZ_ANG                   [Calculated by software]
SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE               [RSS03 team]
SUN_PHOTO_TIME                 [Helo or RSS11 sunphotometer]
INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_THICK_550   [Helo or RSS11 sunphotometer]
COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR             [Calculated by software]
COVER_TYPE                     [Experiment Plan]
HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID               [RSS03 team]
CRTFCN_CODE                    [Assigned by BORIS Staff]
REVISION_DATE                  [Assigned by BORIS Staff]


7.3.5 Data Range

The following table gives information about the parameter values found in
the data files on the CD-ROM.

Reference File
                     Minimum        Maximum        Missng  Unrel  Below   Data
                     Data           Data           Data    Data   Detect  Not
Column Name          Value          Value          Value   Value  Limit   Cllctd
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE_NAME            NSA-9BS-9TETR  SSA-YJP-FLXTR  None    None   None    None
SUB_SITE             RSS03-SE501    RSS03-SE501    None    None   None    None
DATE_OBS             31-MAY-1994    16-SEP-1994    None    None   None    None
TIME                 143212         225100         None    None   None    None
OP_GRID_INFO         N/A            N/A            None    None   None    None
PLATFORM_ALTITUDE    304.8          304.8          None    None   None    None
ELEVATION            136            650.44         None    None   None    None
SOLAR_ZEN_ANG        32.827         63.215         None    None   None    None
SOLAR_AZ_ANG         96.059         253.65         None    None   None    None
SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE     Helo           Thom           None    None   None    None
SUN_PHOTO_TIME       143300         223200         None    None   None    None
INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_  .0315          .7464          None    None   None    None
THICK_550
COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR   63.5           270.1          None    None   None    None
COVER_TYPE           N/A            N/A            None    None   None    None
HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID     531A           916B           None    None   None    None
CRTFCN_CODE          CPI            CPI            None    None   None    None
REVISION_DATE        13-JUN-1998    13-JUN-1998    None    None   None    None
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minimum Data Value -- The minimum value found in the column.
Maximum Data Value -- The maximum value found in the column.
Missng Data Value  -- The value that indicates missing data. This is used to
                      indicate that an attempt was made to determine the
                      parameter value, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Unrel Data Value   -- The value that indicates unreliable data.  This is used
                      to indicate an attempt was made to determine the
                      parameter value, but the value was deemed to be
                      unreliable by the analysis personnel.
Below Detect Limit -- The value that indicates parameter values below the
                      instruments detection limits.  This is used to
                      indicate that an attempt was made to determine the
                      parameter value, but the analysis personnel determined
                      that the parameter value was below the detection
                      limit of the instrumentation.
Data Not Cllctd    -- This value indicates that no attempt was made to
                      determine the parameter value.  This usually
                      indicates that BORIS combined several similar but
                      not identical data sets into the same data base table
                      but this particular science team did not
                      measure that parameter.

Blank -- Indicates that blank spaces are used to denote that type of value.
N/A   -- Indicates that the value is not applicable to the respective column.
None  -- Indicates that no values of that sort were found in the column.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.4 Sample Data Record

SITE_NAME,SUB_SITE,DATE_OBS,TIME,OP_GRID_INFO,PLATFORM_ALTITUDE,ELEVATION,SOLAR_ZEN_ANG,
SOLAR_AZ_ANG,SUN_PHOTO_SOURCE,SUN_PHOTO_TIME,INTERP_AEROSOL_OPT_THICK_550,COLUMN_WATER_VAPOR,
COVER_TYPE,HELO_LOG_TRIP_ID,CRTFCN_CODE,REVISION_DATE
'NSA-9BS-9TETR','RSS03-SE501',07-JUN-1994,180946,'T6R5S',304.8,239.51,33.404,170.278,'Helo',
181000,.0561,122.5,'BS','607A','CPI',13-JUN-1998
'NSA-9BS-9TETR','RSS03-SE501',08-JUN-1994,170000,'T6R5S',304.8,136.0,33.59,166.133,'Helo',
170300,.0738,98.9,'BS','608A','CPI',13-JUN-1998