GAWSIS 2.2

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Frequently Asked Questions

How is the use of GAW data regulated?

The data contained in any of the GAW World Data Centres are to be used for non-profit, scientific and/or educational purposes only. The WMO Executive Council/Committee on Atmospheric Sciences (EC/CAS) Working Group on Environmental Pollution and Atmospheric Chemistry remind users of the data to acknowledge and honour the following statement:

FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES, ACCESS TO THESE [GAW] DATA IS UNLIMITED AND PROVIDED WITHOUT CHARGE. BY THEIR USE YOU ACCEPT THAT AN OFFER OF CO-AUTHORSHIP WILL BE MADE THROUGH PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE DATA PROVIDERS OR OWNERS WHENEVER SUBSTANTIAL USE IS MADE OF THEIR DATA. IN ALL CASES, AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MUST BE MADE TO THE DATA PROVIDERS OR OWNERS AND TO THE DATA CENTRE WHEN THESE DATA ARE USED WITHIN A PUBLICATION.

What are the different GAW station types?

The WMO Technical Regulations (Chapter B.2) define the GAW Programme and two station types, namely Global and Regional GAW stations. Additionally, Contributing stations are also listed in GAWSIS because they submit data to the GAW World Data Centres.

I would like to be listed as a station contact of a particular station already registered with GAWSIS. What do I do?

For security reasons, you cannot add yourself to the list of designated station contacts. Please request a registered contact to log-on and add you to the list of station contacts for a particular station.

I would like to receive a username and password to be able to edit/add information in GAWSIS. What do I do?

Select 'Edit/Add Information from the blue menu bar at the top of the page. If you are not yet registered as a contact with GAWSIS, have your name added by your country contact. If you enter the e-mail address that is registered for you in GAWSIS, your credentials will be sent to you immediately. This will allow you to edit/add information relating to all stations for which you are a designated station contact. If you find erroneous information for any other station, please contact one of the designated station contacts for that station and request the information to be updated. If you want to be registered for a particular station and your country contact is unavailable, you may request username and password from the GAWSIS administrator. Additional and more detailed instructions can be found in the GAWSIS Guide .

I find that information, which I had added to the describe the measurement program at my station have been altered by someone else. How can that happen and what do I do?

GAWSIS tries hard to take the burden to keep information up-to-date off the shoulders of the registered contacts. To this end, machine-to-machine data exchange arrangements are being developed with the GAW World Data Centres. GAWSIS regularly receives updates of metadata stored at these archives. Certain elements of information that a user might have added manually to GAWSIS are over-written in the process of updating. If you disagree with the changes made, please contact the GAWSIS administrator. Alternatively, a colleague of yours who is also registered as a contact for your station may have changed information.


Glossary
AGAGE	Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment http://agage.eas.gatech.edu/
BSRN	Baseline Surface Radiation Network http://www.bsrn.awi.de/
CAPMoN	Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/capmon/
Climate Zone	The Köppen climate classification describes climate conditions of regions on the Earth surface depending on precipitation and temperature in different seasons. Main climate zones are described by the first letter, namely A equatorial, B arid, C warm temperate, D snow, and E polar vegetation zones. These are further detailed by a second letter considering precipitation (W desert, S steppe, f: fully humid, s summer dry, w winter dry, m monsoonal) and a third letter for the air temperature (h hot arid, k cold arid, a hot summer, b warm summer, c cool summer, F polar frost, T polar tundra). Our assignment for each of the stations registered in GAWSIS is based on the Köppen-Geiger world map of climate classification (resolution 0.5°x0.5°) for the second half of the 20th century described in Kottek et. al. 2006 (DOI: 10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130).
Contributing Station	Contributing stations belong to other organizations or international programmes such as the NDACC (formerly NDSC), the EMEP, the BSRN or the SHADOZ networks. Through mutual agreements, these contributing organizations are under the GAW umbrella of stations. Some of these stations have dual affiliations within GAW, having also the status of Global or Regional GAW station. In that case, they will will be listed as such.
EANET	Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia http://www.eanet.cc/
EMEP	European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme http://www.emep.int/
Fixed Station	Fixed stations in GAWSIS terminology encompass all monitoring sites that don't move around. This include anything from a large observatory to a permanent container station, and even a flask sampling case always used at the same place. The counterpart are mobile stations.
GAW	Global Atmosphere Watch, the atmospheric chemistry programme of WMO was established in 1992, consolidating existing programmes such as GO3OS and BAPMoN.
Global Station	Global stations shall be designed in relation to the global requirements which are to provide for data required to address environmental issues of global scale and importance. [WMO Technical Regulations, B.2.4.2.1] The current GAW strategic plan describs these Essential Characteristics of a Global Station.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)	Greenwich, England has been the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) since 1884. GMT is sometimes called Greenwich Meridian Time because it is measured from the Greenwich Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. GMT is in the same time zone as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). All other time zones are expressed as an offset in hours to GMT/UTC.
Mobile Station	Mobile stations in GAWSIS terminology encompass all monitoring sites that change their location during sampling. This includes primarily ships and aircraft. The counterpart are fixed stations.
NADP	National Atmospheric Deposition Program, a U.S. program. http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/
NDACC	Network for the Detection Atmospheric Composition Change (formerly 'NDSC') http://www.ndacc.org
NIES	Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies http://www.nies.go.jp/, also contributes to AGAGE.
Regional Station	Regional stations shall be designed primarily to address regional aspects of global environmental issues and environmental problems of regional scale and importance. [WMO Technical Regulations, B.2.4.3.1] According to the current GAW strategic plan Regional Stations fulfil these ten Essential Characteristics.
SHADOZ	Southern Hemisphere ADditional Ozone Sondes http://croc.gsfc.nasa.gov/shadoz/
SOGE	System for Observation of Halogenated Greenhouse Gases in Europe http://tarantula.nilu.no/soge/, a programme associated with AGAGE
UTC	Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is the same time zone as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

QA/SAC Switzerland is hosted by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA), Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Funding provided by MeteoSwiss is greatfully acknowledged.