TAO Delayed-mode Data Processing Graphical User Interface

Lau, Y. H., & Fitzpatrick, P. J. (2016). TAO Delayed-mode Data Processing Graphical User Interface. Mississippi State University: Geosystems Research Institute. 30.

The Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) array (renamed the TAO/TRITON array in 2000) consists of approximately 50-70 moorings in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, telemetering oceanographic and meteorological data to shore in real-time via the Argos satellite system. The array is a major component of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Observing System, the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The data is available from the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) at: http://tao.ndbc.noaa.gov . Existing procedures to process the 55 delayed-mode TAO data required numerous legacy programs in different programming languages (JAVA, MATLAB, PERL), and in multiple machines with different operating systems (LINUX, WINDOWS) residing at separate physical locations within the NDBC’s Mission Control Center. This process was fragmented, labor-intensive, and prone to input errors. The TAO Delayed-Mode Data Processing Graphical User Interface (TaoGUI) provides a unified user-friendly GUI in the Windows 7 operating system as the gateway to the existing TAO delayed-mode data processing programs. It will significantly reduce data processing time and operator errors. The developed Java GUI interface (TaoGUI) incorporates a user-friendly and customizable front-end seamlessly with existing TAO delayed-mode data processing programs. Only minor changes in terms of user inputs were changed in the NDBC Legacy programs. The resulting TaoGUI performs the following tasks: 1) Connects to a NDBC MySQL database; 2) Creates data directories and transfers data; 3) Concatenates Tube data; 4) Gets required metadata & data calibration files; 5) Creates processing event logs; 6) Converts and concatenates data to usable format; 7) Trims data; 8) Previews time-series data graphically; 9) Provides edit and quality-control edit data; 10) Flags data; 11) Calculates derived data; 12) Saves and exports data and metadata; 13) Calculates estimated data file sizes and alerts user if needed; 14) Retrieves start and end time from deployment, recovery, and repair logs; 15) Matches subsurface sensor property numbers and types with existing sensor files; 16) Identifies processed and unprocessed delayed-mode processing steps; 17) Constructs default user settings to minimize user input time; 18) Provides flexibility to change default user settings; and 19) Passes user settings as input arguments to PERL and MATLAB scripts. Delayed mode data currently under quality controlled and processed are as follows: 1) Sea Surface Temperature: 10 minute sampling; 2) Sea Surface Conductivity: 10-minute sampling; 3) Subsurface Temperature: 10-minute sampling; 4) Subsurface water pressure: 10-minute sampling; 5) Wind Velocity (u, v): 10-minute sampling; 6) Air Temperature: 10-minute sampling; 7) Relative Humidity: 10-minute sampling; 8) Rain Accumulation: 1-minute sampling; 9) Barometric Pressure: Hourly sampling; 10) Shortwave Radiation/Longwave Radiation: 2-minute sampling; 11) Current Velocity (u,v,w,): 20-minute sampling; 12) Derived Data (i.e. salinity, density, speed & direction); and 13) Other optional data (if time and resources are available) include CTD profiles.