New ARM Calibration System
Authors
Adam Theisen — Argonne National Laboratory *
Kyle K Dumas — Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Harold Shanafield — Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Rolanda Jundt — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Katie Dorsey — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Brad Perkins — Los Alamos National Laboratory (Retired)
Category
ARM infrastructure
Description
It is important to ARM users that ARM provides calibrated datasets and that the calibration processes follow community standards and best practices. ARM has an active and robust calibration domain, but this is not visible to ARM’s data users. The calibration process is currently documented in the ARM instrument handbooks and the results are either stored in an internal calibration database, with the mentors, or applied in the ingests through a configuration file. This means, users must trust that ARM is performing the calibrations defined in the handbooks as expected. There is a need to make the information and processes more open and transparent. To this end, ARM is going to implement a multi-phased approach to better track, record, disseminate, and communicate calibration information to end users.
At the core of this approach is the development of a new calibration system to enable ARM staff to create site and instrument specific calibration plans, set calibration timelines and reminders, and store site and instrument specific calibration results in an accessible database. Requirements for this system were gathered from ARM infrastructure and ARM users, such as the UEC, but ARM will engage with all groups again in alpha and beta testing to ensure that this new tool meets their needs. Based on discussions with the UEC and other users, it was clear that users will have a variety of preferences in how they interact with this information. Some users would prefer to just know that the data they are using is calibrated while others want to see the results from the calibrations. To meet this broad range of preferences, there will be multiple approaches in how ARM disseminates this information.
The calibration tool will be developed in phases with the last phases focused on dissemination of the data to the user community. The first step in this dissemination will be in making these data available in a manner like Data Quality Reports (DQRs). This includes enhancements to Data Discovery and the data ordering process such as:
- Linking to the “digitized” calibration plans under “Additional Resources”
- Adding calibration events to the Timeline View, which link to the associated calibration report
- Bundling of all relevant calibration information and attachments into a folder that’s included in the data order
Additional efforts to enable easy to access information include:
- Creating an API for easy user access to query and retrieve calibration information
- Creating a public facing search interface to review calibration plans and results
ARM will also be developing a communication strategy to better inform ARM users of ARM’s calibration process, which includes:
- Updates to ARM web pages to highlight calibration information
- Initial calibration news story about ARM calibrations and the new calibration system
- Blog posts from the mentor team specific to calibration processes for their instruments
Webinar to inform the community about how to access calibration information.