Construction of Meteorological Observation Quality Management System for Basic Observation Business

A set of closed-loop normative standards of PDCA(planning-implementing-checking-improvement) of the quality management system is applied to promote the standardization, normalization and institutionalization of grass-roots meteorological observations, further improve the service availability and timely rate of data, and improve the quality and efficiency of meteorological observations.

A New Method for Quality Control of Chinese Rawinsonde Wind Observations

In 2006,the National Meteorological Information Center （NMIC） of the China Meteorological Administration （CMA） developed its real-time quality control （QC） system of rawinsonde observations coming from the Global Telecommunications System （GTS） and established the Global Upper-air Report Dataset,which,with the NMIC B01 format,is generally referred to as the B01 dataset and updated on a daily basis.However,when the B01 dataset is applied in climate analysis,some wind errors as well as some accurate values with incorrect error marks are found.To improve the quality and usefulness of Chinese rawinsonde wind observations,a new QC method （NewQC） is proposed in this paper.Different from the QC approach used for B01 datasets,the NewQC includes two vertical-wind-shear checks to analyze the vertical consistency of winds,in which the constant height level winds are used as reference data for the QC of mandatory pressure level winds.Different threshold values are adopted in the wind shear checks for different stations and different vertical levels.Several typical examples of QC of different error types by the new algorithm are shown and its performance with respect to 1980-2008 observational data is statistically evaluated.Compared with the radiosonde QC algorithms used in both the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System （MADIS,http：//madis.noaa.gov/madis_raob_qc.html） of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration （NOAA） and the B01 dataset,the NewQC shows higher accuracy and better reliability,particularly when used to judge successive observation errors.

Sea surface temperature data from coastal observation stations:quality control and semidiurnal characteristics

Sea surface temperature(SST)data obtained from coastal stations in Jiangsu,China during 20102014 are quality controlled before analysis of their characteristic semidiurnal and seasonal cycles,including the correlation with the variation of the tide.Quality control of data includes the validation of extreme values and checking of hourly values based on temporally adjacent data points,with 0.15℃/h considered a suitable threshold for detecting abnormal values.The diurnal variation amplitude of the SST data is greater in spring and summer than in autumn and winter.The diurnal variation of SST has bimodal structure on most days,i.e.,SST has a significant semidiurnal cycle.Moreover,the semidiurnal cycle of SST is negatively correlated with the tidal data from March to August,but positively correlated with the tidal data from October to January.Little correlation is detected in the remaining months because of the weak coastal offshore SST gradients.The quality control and understanding of coastal SST data are particularly relevant with regard to the validation of indirect measurements such as satellite-derived data.

Clinical Observation on Quality of Life in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Patients Treated According to Syndrome Differentiation of TCM

Objective: To evaluate the clinical effect and quality of life (QOL) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients treated according to syndrome differentiation of TCM. Methods: Eighty-two CABG patients were allocated in the control group (n = 39) treated with conventional method of western medicine, and the TCM-treated group (n

A Spatial Consistency Quality Control Method for Daily Surface Temperature Observations

Based on the spatial regression test (SRT) and random forest (RF), a new spatial consistency quality control method named SRF was adapted to identify potential outliers in daily surface temperature observations in this article. For the new method, the SRT method was used to filter the data and the RF method was used to conduct regression. To evaluate the performance of the quality control method, the SRF, SRT and RF methods were applied to a surface temperature dataset with seeded errors from different regions of China from 2005 to 2014. The results indicate that the SRF method outperforms the other two methods in most cases. And the results of the comparison led to the conclusion that the SRF method improves the regression accuracy of traditional spatial consistency quality control methods and reduces the runtime of random forest through data refinement.

Quality analysis of crustal tilt and strain observations in China's earthquakes in 2014

This work analyzes the quality of crustal tilt and strain observations during 2014, which were acquired from 269 sets of ground tiltmeters and 212 sets of strainmeters. In terms of data quality, the water tube tiltmeters presented the highest rate of excellent quality,approximately 91%, and the pendulum tiltmeters and ground strainmeters yielded rates of81% and 78%, respectively. This means that a total of 380 sets of instruments produced high-quality observational data suitable for scientific investigations and analyses.

Methodological quality(risk of bias) assessment tools for primary and secondary medical studies: What are they and which is better?

Methodological quality(risk of bias)assessment is an important step before study initiation usage.Therefore,accurately judging study type is the first priority,and the choosing proper tool is also important.In this review,we introduced methodological quality assessment tools for randomized controlled trial(including individual and cluster),animal study,non-randomized interventional studies(including follow-up study,controlled before-and-after study,before-after/pre-post study,uncontrolled longitudinal study,interrupted time series study),cohort study,case-control study,cross-sectional study(including analytical and descriptive),observational case series and case reports,comparative effectiveness research,diagnostic study,health economic evaluation,prediction study(including predictor finding study,prediction model impact study,prognostic prediction model study),qualitative study,outcome measurement instruments(including patient-reported outcome measure development,content validity,structural validity,internal consistency,cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance,reliability,measurement error,criterion validity,hypotheses testing for construct validity,and responsiveness),systematic review and meta-analysis,and clinical practice guideline.The readers of our review can distinguish the types of medical studies and choose appropriate tools.In one word,comprehensively mastering relevant knowledge and implementing more practices are basic requirements for correctly assessing the methodological quality.

Application of GPS technology to build a mine-subsidence observation station

We propose the design of an observation station to establish a reliable datum for displacement and deformation analysis at the first working-face subsidence observation station of Liuzhuang Mine. The design considers various geologic and mining con-ditions. Having analyzed the aims of the joint survey and the comprehensive survey, we propose design principles, and work modes, for adopting GPS technology as the position measuring technique to be used in these two stages. Baseline vectors and spatial ad-justments of the GPS network were calculated after study of data processing and quality estimation methods. A coordinate system transformation and error estimates of the transformed GPS network data are discussed. The error estimates in all stages show that the GPS control network of the observation station has sufficient accuracy and is highly efficient. The network thus provides a reli-able datum for analyzing the laws of surface displacement and deformation induced by mining.

Quality control for ocean observations: From present to future

The quality control(QC) of ocean observational data, essential to establish a high-quality global ocean database, is one of the basic data pre-processing steps in oceanography research, marine monitoring, and forecasting. With the introduction of various advanced instruments in recent decades, oceanographic surveys have expanded from coastal regions to open oceans.However, as ocean in-situ observations are obtained using different instruments that offer heterogeneous data qualities, it is paramount that bad data could be accurately and efficiently identified via QC to provide a reliable global ocean database. In this review, we briefly summarize the latest progress of QC for oceanic in-situ observations, and mainly focus on temperature and salinity data. The similarities and differences between QC schemes developed by various ocean organizations are introduced. We also discuss the performances of the various QC schemes and identify the key challenges. Based on the discussions, several recommendations are proposed for future improvements in the QC for ocean observations.

The quality examination of observative data at Geomagnetic observatories

The basic task of geomagnetic observatory is .to produce accurate, relaible,continuous and complete observative data. The aim of examination is to judge the quality status of data. According to the operative principle of geomagnetic instruments and its operative status that should be achieved, geomagnetic activity and spread characteristics in time domain and location domain, authers proposed a complete set of data quality examination. The paper discusses respectively physical basement, examination method and the result about scalevalues, base-line values, monthly mean values, daily mean values, maximum and minimum values in daily range, magnetic storm and K index. The practice has proved that this set of examination is feasible and useful to raise and to guarantee the quality of observative data.

Probabilistic Automatic Outlier Detection for Surface Air Quality Measurements from the China National Environmental Monitoring Network

Although quality assurance and quality control procedures are routinely applied in most air quality networks, outliers can still occur due to instrument malfunctions, the influence of harsh environments and the limitation of measuring methods. Such outliers pose challenges for data-powered applications such as data assimilation, statistical analysis of pollution characteristics and ensemble forecasting. Here, a fully automatic outlier detection method was developed based on the probability of residuals, which are the discrepancies between the observed and the estimated concentration values. The estimation can be conducted using filtering—or regressions when appropriate—to discriminate four types of outliers characterized by temporal and spatial inconsistency, instrument-induced low variances, periodic calibration exceptions, and less PM_(10) than PM_(2.5) in concentration observations, respectively. This probabilistic method was applied to detect all four types of outliers in hourly surface measurements of six pollutants(PM_(2.5), PM_(10),SO_2,NO_2,CO and O_3) from 1436 stations of the China National Environmental Monitoring Network during 2014-16. Among the measurements, 0.65%-5.68% are marked as outliers. with PM_(10) and CO more prone to outliers. Our method successfully identifies a trend of decreasing outliers from 2014 to 2016,which corresponds to known improvements in the quality assurance and quality control procedures of the China National Environmental Monitoring Network. The outliers can have a significant impact on the annual mean concentrations of PM_(2.5),with differences exceeding 10 μg m^(-3) at 66 sites.

PROGRESS OF MARINE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION EXPERIMENT AT MAOMING OF SOUTH CHINA

The coastal area of southern China is frequently affected by marine meteorological disasters,and is also one of the key areas that influence the short-term climate change of China.Due to a lack of observational facilities and techniques,little has been done in this area in terms of operational weather monitoring and scientific research on atmospheric and marine environment.With the support of China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and Guangdong Meteorological Bureau (GMB),the Marine Meteorological Science Experiment Base (MMSEB) at Bohe,Maoming has been jointly established by Guangzhou Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology (GITMM) and Maoming Meteorological Bureau (MMB) of Guangdong Province after three years of hard work.It has become an integrated coastal observation base that is equipped with a complete set of sophisticated instruments.Equipment maintenance and data quality control procedures have been implemented to ensure the long-term,steady operation of the instruments and the availability of high quality data.Preliminary observations show that the data obtained by the MMSEB reveal many interesting features in the boundary layer structure and air-sea interaction in such disastrous weather as typhoons and sea fog.The MMSEB is expected to play an important role in the scientific research of disastrous weather related to marine meteorology.

Integration, Quality Assurance, and Usage of Global Aircraft Observations in CRA

This paper presents a detailed description of integration, quality assurance procedure, and usage of global aircraft observations for China's first generation global atmospheric reanalysis(CRA) product(1979–2018). An integration method named "classified integration" is developed. Aircraft observations from nine different sources are integrated into the Integrated Global Meteorological Observation Archive from Aircraft(IGMOAA), a new dataset from the National Meteorological Information Center(NMIC) of the China Meteorological Administration(CMA). IGMOAA consists of global aircraft temperature, wind, and humidity data from the surface to 100 h Pa, extending from 1973 to the present. Compared with observations assimilated in the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis(CFSR) of NCEP,the observation number of IGMOAA increased by 12.9% between 2010 and 2014, mainly as a result of adding more Chinese Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay(AMDAR) data. Complex quality control procedures for aircraft observations of NCEP are applied to detect data errors. Observations are compared with ERA-Interim reanalysis from 1979 to 2018 to investigate data quality of different types and aircraft, and subsequently to develop the blacklists for CRA. IGMOAA data have been assimilated in CRA in 2018 and are real-time updated at the CMA Data-as-a-Service(CMADaa S) platform. For CRA, the fits to observations improve over time. From 1994 to 2018, root-meansquare error(RMSE) of observations relative to CRA background decreases from 1.8 to 1.0℃ for temperature above 300 h Pa, and from 4.5 to 3 m s^(-1) for zonal wind. The RMSE for humidity appears to exhibit an apparent seasonal variation with larger errors in summer and smaller ones in winter.

A case study of air quality control in Beijing and the surrounding area during the 2015 World Championships and Parade

Based on satellite observations, the effects of emission reduction measures on air pollutants （NO2 （nitrogen dioxide）, SO2 （sulfur dioxide）, and aerosols） were estimated in Beijing and its surroundings during the 2015 World Championships and Parade （WCP） held in Beijing. Compared with the same period in the previous three years （2012-2014）, the tropospheric vertical column densities of NO2 and SO2 in 2015 were significantly reduced in Beijing and its surroundings. During the WCP, aerosol optical depth was reduced most significantly in Beijing, while NO2 and SO2 were reduced most significantly in Hebei and Tianjin, respectively. The meteorological conditions were also favorable during this period. During the WCP, the North China Plain was located under high pressure from the north of China. A southward pressure gradient force and weak northerly and northeasterly winds blocked the transport of pollution from southern and western parts of the industrial area （Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces）. Cold air masses pushed southwards weakly. These conditions were beneficial to the removal of air pollutants in Beijing.

Observation scheduling problem for AEOS with a comprehensive task clustering

Considering the flexible attitude maneuver and the narrow field of view of agile Earth observation satellite(AEOS)together,a comprehensive task clustering(CTC)is proposed to improve the observation scheduling problem for AEOS(OSPFAS).Since the observation scheduling problem for AEOS with comprehensive task clustering(OSWCTC)is a dynamic combination optimization problem,two optimization objectives,the loss rate(LR)of the image quality and the energy consumption(EC),are proposed to format OSWCTC as a bi-objective optimization model.Harnessing the power of an adaptive large neighborhood search(ALNS)algorithm with a nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II(NSGA-II),a bi-objective optimization algorithm,ALNS+NSGA-II,is developed to solve OSWCTC.Based on the existing instances,the efficiency of ALNS+NSGA-II is analyzed from several aspects,meanwhile,results of extensive computational experiments are presented which disclose that OSPFAS considering CTC produces superior outcomes.

Oncological results, functional outcomes and health-related quality-of-life in men who received a radical prostatectomy or external beam radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer： a study on long-term patient outcome with risk stratification

Health-related quality-of-life （HRQOL） after a radical prostatectomy （RP） or extemal beam radiation therapy （EBRT） has not been studied in conjunction with oncological outcomes in relation to disease risk stratification. Moreover, the long-term outcomes of these treatment approaches have not been studied. We retrospectively analyzed oncological outcomes between consecutive patients receiving RP （n = 86） and EBRT （n = 76） for localized prostate cancer. HRQOL and functional outcomes could be assessed in 62 RP （79%） and 54 EBRT （79%） patients over a 3-year follow-up period （median： 41 months） using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 （SF-36） and the University of Califomia Los Angeles Prostate Cancer Index （UCLA PCI）. The 5-year biochemical progression-free survival did not differ between the RP and EBRT groups for low-risk （74.6% vs. 75.0%, P = 0.931） and intermediate-risk （61.3% vs. 71.1%, P = 0.691） patients. For high-risk patients, progression-free survival was lower in the RP group （45.1%） than in the EBRT group （79.7%） （P = 0.002）. The general HRQOL was comparable between the two groups. Regarding functional outcomes, the RP group reported lower scores on urinary function and less urinary bother and sexual bother than the EBRT group （P 〈 0.001, P 〈 0.05 and P 〈 0.001, respectively）. With risk stratification, the low- and intermediate-risk patients in the RP group reported poorer urinary function than patients in the EBRT group （P 〈 0.001 for each）. The sexual function of the high-risk patients in the EBRT group was better than that of the same risk RP patients （P 〈 0.001）. Biochemical recurrence was not associated with the UCLA PCI score in either group. In conclusion, low- to intermediate-risk patients treated with an RP may report relatively decreased urinary function during long-term follow-up. The patient＇s HRQOL after treatment did not depend on biochemical recurrence.

Observation and Data Archiving System of a Superconducting Gravimeter at Syowa Station, Antarctica

A superconducting gravimeter (SG, model TT70#016, GWR Instruments) was deployed for the first time in Antarctica in 1992 at Syowa Station. Observations began in April 1993. Although the SG was equipped with a 10 K cryocooler, its liquid helium (LHe) required refilling twice a year to maintain its superconducting state. The LHe was produced by a separate helium liquefier. After continuous gravity measurement with the SG for 11 years, it was replaced by a second SG (CT#043) with a 4 K cryocooler in December 2003 in order to reduce loads of person in charge for LHe production. Because the manufacturer could not supply a replacement 4 K cryocooler, this SG ceased measurement in November 2009. In January 2010, a new superconducting gravimeter (OSG#058) was installed and had recorded high-quality gravity time series with data acquired every second for more than five years without interruption. Because the personal computer (PC) controlling the observation and data acquisition is connected with PCs in Japan through an Intelsat satellite communication link, we can check the status of observations in real time. It is also possible to fix remotely certain problems with the gravimeter. The observed gravity data are transferred daily to a data server in Japan. Also included in the upload are diagnostic data of the gravimeter such as the temperature of the coldhead and environmental data such as atmospheric pressure. Plots of the daily data are publicly available. The raw data with a 1 s sampling interval are also released to registered researchers. The released gravity time series along with the environmental data are greatly useful for investigating solid earth dynamics especially in the long period bands. We provide necessary information to use these long-range data sets.

A Sliding Mode Approach to Enhance the Power Quality of Wind Turbines Under Unbalanced Voltage Conditions

An integral terminal sliding mode-based control design is proposed in this paper to enhance the power quality of wind turbines under unbalanced voltage conditions. The design combines the robustness, fast response, and high quality transient characteristics of the integral terminal sliding mode control with the estimation properties of disturbance observers. The controller gains were auto-tuned using a fuzzy logic approach.The effectiveness of the proposed design was assessed under deep voltage sag conditions and parameter variations. Its dynamic response was also compared to that of a standard SMC approach.The performance analysis and simulation results confirmed the ability of the proposed approach to maintain the active power,currents, DC-link voltage and electromagnetic torque within their acceptable ranges even under the most severe unbalanced voltage conditions. It was also shown to be robust to uncertainties and parameter variations, while effectively mitigating chattering in comparison with the standard SMC.

Analysing the quality of Swiss National Forest Inventory measurements of woody species richness

Background: Under ongoing climate and land-use change, biodiversity is continuously decreasing and monitoring biodiversity is becoming increasingly important. National Forest Inventory(NFI) programmes provide valuable timeseries data on biodiversity and thus contribute to assessments of the state and trends in biodiversity, as well as ecosystem functioning. Data quality in this context is of paramount relevance, particularly for ensuring a meaningful interpretation of changes. The Swiss NFI revisits about 8%–10% of its sample plots regularly in repeat surveys to supervise the quality of fieldwork.Methods: We analysed the relevance of observer bias with equivalence tests, examined data quality objectives defined by the Swiss NFI instructors, and calculated the pseudo-turnover(PT) of species composition, that is, the percentage of species not observed by both teams. Three attributes of woody species richness from the latest Swiss NFI cycles(3 and 4) were analysed: occurrence of small tree and shrub species(1) on the sample plot and(2) at the forest edge, and(3) main shrub and trees species in the upper storey.Results: We found equivalent results between regular and repeat surveys for all attributes. Data quality, however,was significantly below expectations in all cases, that is, as much as 20%–30% below the expected data quality limit of 70%–80%(proportion of observations that should not deviate from a predefined threshold). PT values were about 10%–20%, and the PT of two out of three attributes decreased significantly in NFI4. This type of uncertainty –typically caused by a mixture of overlooking and misidentifying species – should be considered carefully when interpreting change figures on species richness estimates from NFI data.Conclusions: Our results provide important information on the data quality achieved in Swiss NFIs in terms of the reproducibility of the collected data. The three applied approaches proved to be effective for evaluating the quality of plot-level species richness and composition data in forest inventories and other biodiversity monitoring programmes. As such, they could also be recommended for assessing the quality of biodiversity indices derived from monitoring data.

Quality of Management of Severe Malaria Cases in Children under Five: A Case of Four Health Facilities in the Littoral Department in Benin

Background: Benin republic is a sub-Saharan African country endemic to malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum. To reduce the death rate due to this scourge, it is essential to ensure quality care, especially for children under five years who are the most vulnerable. The main objective of this study is to assess the quality of severe malaria case management in patients under five years. Methods: Descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was performed in health facilities in Cotonou city, the economic capital of Benin Republic. Study sample included 205 suspected cases of severe malaria among children aged under five years, in four health facilities. In each of hospitals, all children under five years with severe malaria presumption were enrolled in the study. Quality was assessed through five components: diagnosis, treatment, patient monitoring, counselling/advice, and patient’s follow-up. Based on the Benin Republic’s malaria case management standard protocol, the assessment criteria of each component were defined. Results: The sex ratio was 1.25 boys to a girl. The median of hospitalisation duration was 3 days with first quartile (Q1) = 2 and third quartile (Q3) = 5. Among 205 severe malaria cases included, 157 (76.59%) were not managed in accordance with the requirements of the national protocol of malaria case management. The different components of cases management are not all implemented during the care of patients. Conclusion: There is a need for training to health workers on implementation of severe malaria in children under 5 years protocol. Also, there is a need for investigation about factors associated with malaria protocol implementation.