Comparison of CDAWeb and PAPCO DISPLAYS of TIMAS High Resolution DATA

Example Interval 4/29/98 through 5/9/98

The TIMAS High Resolution Data format contains several data quality flags that
are NOT used by the CDAWeb software but are available as options
in the PAPCO displays. These data quality flags are described on the TIMAS/PAPCO pages and references to the appropriate flags are lined to below.

The high resolution data files contain data where

No pitch angle information is available
Data intervals have high or inadequate quality

These differences are indicated by data quality flags in the TIMAS high resolution data file as described in the cdf skeleton table included with each data file

When the PA_status flag equals 99 NO pitch angle information is available for the 2-spin (24 second) data interval. In this case the flux values for all but the 0-15 degree angular bin are set to zero and the omnidirectional average flux reported in the 0-15 degree bin. PAPCO and CDAWeb software do not display the PA_status flag at this time, so the CDF Utility software package CDFwalk has to be used to determine the value of the PA_status flag.
Three levels of Data Quality are indicated in the TIMAS High Resolution data by the Quality flag. The quality flag is determined by the total count rate. The highest quality data are available at relatively low count rates and have the Quality flag set to 2 or less. Adequate quality data are available to higher count rates and are indicated by a Quality flag set to 3 or less. CDAWeb software does not display the Quality flag, so the CDF Utility software package CDFwalk has to be used to determine the value of the Quality flag.

The different ways the PAPCO and CDAWeb software display data with different PA_status and Quality flags are illustrated in the examples from the interval from April 29, 1998 to May 9, 1998 below.

24 hour summary plots

Date	All Available TIMAS data from the TIMAS web page	TIMAS DATA of ADEQUATE Quality and all PA_status values	TIMAS data of Adequate and High Quality with VALID PITCH ANGLE INFORMATION
April 29, 1998	flx_980429	po_ho_tim_19980429_v01.gif	429valid_pa.gif
April 30	flx_980430	po_ho_tim_19980430_v01.gif	430valid_pa.gif
May 1	flx_980501	po_ho_tim_19980501_v01.gif	501vlaid_pa.gif
May 2	flx_980502	po_ho_tim_19980502_v01.gif	502valid_pa.gif
May 3	flx_980503	po_ho_tim_19980503_v01.gif	503valid_pa.gif
May 4	flx_980504	po_ho_tim_19980504_v01.gif	504valid_pa.gif
May 5	flx_980505	po_ho_tim_19980505_v01.gif	505valid_pa.gif
May 6	flx_980506	po_ho_tim_19980506_v01.gif	506valid_pa.gif
May 7	flx_980507	po_ho_tim_19980507_v01.gif	507valid_pa.gif
May 8	flx_980508	po_ho_tim_19980508_v01.gif	508valid_pa.gif
May 9, 1998	flx_980509	po_ho_tim_19980509_v01.gif	509valid_pa.gif

Sample PAPCO and CDAWeb Spectrograms for the interval 18:00 to 18:15 on April 30, 1998

PAPCO display of high and adequate quality data with valid pitch angles averaged over all angles
PAPCO display of field aligned fluxes
The Available CDAWeb displays for

Prepared by W.K. Peterson
Last updated 09/12/2005 by Daryl Carr