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Overview

Automated observation systems need to be managed for optimal performance. Maintenance of the overall sensor system include anything from repairs, replacements, changes to the general infrastructure, to deployment and operation of individual sensors, and seasonal or event driven site clean up activities. Any of these activities in the field may affect the data being collected. Therefore, consistent and uniform records of maintenance, service, and changes to field instrumentation and supporting infrastructure serve as metadata for long term quality control and evaluation of the sensor data.

In this chapter, we describe the types of management records that should be kept and the various methods for collecting, maintaining, communicating, and connecting this information to the data. It is important to create tracking and documentation protocols early on because these protocols will support and guide communications and work between field and data management personnel.

Real time monitoring of system health and alerting systems are discussed in the middleware, quality control, and transmission sections of this document. Although some of these parameters do not affect the actual data quality, tracking of these system performance diagnostic data may be helpful to detect patterns and prevent future data loss, intervene remotely, and schedule site visits more effectively. Calibration procedures and schedules, maintenance activities, and replacement schedules are hardware specific and will not be covered here in detail.

Sensor Identification and Tracking
- Location Information (Spatial-Temporal)
- Service History
- Tracking Options
  - Bar Codes
  - Geo-Location Tags
  - Microchip Encoded Sensors (NEON 'Grape')
Maintenance & Tracking of Sensor Events
- Deployments (Spatial-Temporal)
- Methodology: Frequency, Calibration, Quality Filters, Sampling Program, Equipment Change
- Calibrations
- Other Service Actions
- Failures
- Replacement
Middleware Capabilities
- Workflow Management
- Proprietary Software
Geo-Location Referencing
- Geo-Referenced Data Stream
- Photo Documentation
  - Hemispheric photos
  - Time-Series Image Collections
Data Stream Processing
- System Configuration (Hardware/Software/History/Legacy)
  - Datalogger Program Archive
  - Sensor Wiring Diagrams
- Data Workflow
  - Processing Procedures: Current Protocol, Legacy Operations
  - Quality Filters: Application/Log
  - Quality Flags: Application/Log
    - Quality Control Actions
      - Automated
      - Human-Reviewed
      - Log

Sensor Management Tracking and Documentation

Overview