Events
GLOBE Data Quality Challenge: 28 November through 04 December
Event Time: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location: GLOBE Community
GLOBE is holding a Data Quality Challenge, from 28 November through 04 December, in order to compare the site locations associated with your account and correcting the ones that need to be corrected. It’s about quality as much as it is about quantity!
How many hours of daylight are received today at your location? What is the Earth surface like? Can you hear the sea there? Can you see the Southern Cross or the North Star at night? Each of these questions tells you a little bit about where you are, but doesn’t tell you enough for a truly in-depth analysis when it comes to comparing conditions at a specific location. By having accurate geographic coordinates (latitude, longitude, and elevation) that describe a location, you can help GLOBE ensure that measurements observed are being conveyed appropriately on a map or through a Geographic Information System (GIS).
During the Data Quality Challenge, The GLOBE Program is asking you, our community members, to check the GPS coordinates that you use for your data collection sites. The majority of the coordinates defined in GLOBE's database are based off your hand-entered efforts, so an occasional mistake is possible. Sometimes, it is just a mistyped number – so the location entered into the system is anywhere from a few meters to a few kilometers off from where the site actually should be. Other times, it is a positive value being input instead of a negative value – so the site ends up being on the other side globe or placed in the opposite hemisphere.
If coordinates are incorrectly recorded, they can skew the relationships being analyzed in the same way as when measurement readings are erroneously recorded. GLOBE’s system has ways of avoiding false data from either being entered or displayed, but only you can ensure that the location of a site is correct.
The goal of the Data Quality Challenge is to have our members – you – compare the site locations associated with your account and to correct the ones that need to be fixed. You can see all your site locations on a map through http://vis.globe.gov by:
- logging into your account on http://globe.gov;
- adding a data layer, such as "Cloud Cover" on http://vis.globe.gov;
- clicking on the checkbox that says "Sites;" and
- un-checking the box for viewing the observations (Cloud Cover, in this example).
Your sites are represented by little red dots. If one or more of your sites does not look to be in the correct location (such as being in the ocean or in the wrong state or country), then we need you to correct your information. Simply edit your site coordinates on http://data.globe.gov, enter them, and send in the proper coordinates. While you are at it, take advantage of describing your site by filling in the appropriate fields for each site type. After all, the more meta information about your site the better the analysis!
BONUS! In addition to helping ensure the accuracy of the data, everyone who has confirmed and edited their site information will get a participation badge to share on their profile after the challenge period.
Have questions? Contact our Community Support Team at help@globe.gov!
Event Topics: Competitions type: globe-eventsEvents origin: GLOBE Implementation Office