Quality Control of Meteorological Data for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) enhances emergency planning and preparedness for the unlikely event of an accidental release of chemical weapons agent from any of the six remaining U.S. Army chemical weapons depots where storage and weapons destruction (demilitarization) activities are ongoing (Fig. 1). Until the U.S. stockpile is destroyed, it will pose a continuing threat to depot workers and residents of surrounding communities.

Figure 1. Locations of CSEPP sites.

At each depot a network of meteorological monitoring stations provides real-time data to Army plume dispersion modelers. In case of an accidental release these modelers must recommend protective actions (e.g., immediate evacuation or sheltering in place) to Army and off-post civilian authorities for communication to depot personnel and the general public. Because an accidental agent release could occur at any time, these meteorological instrument networks must provide instant, accurate data reliably around the clock.

The CSEPP Meteorological Support Project at Argonne National Laboratory ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data acquired by this network of meteorological monitoring stations. The project provides maintenance, calibration, and audit services for the instrumentation; collection, automated screening, visual inspection, and analysis of the data; and problem reporting and tracking to carefully control the data quality. The resulting high-quality meteorological data enhance emergency response modeling and public safety.

This paper describes the quality control (QC) procedures developed by the CSEPP Meteorological Support Program. A description of the meteorological monitoring network is presented first, followed by an overview of the QC procedures. Descriptions of the instrument audit and calibration, data verification and validation, and problem reporting and tracking are presented in turn, accompanied by illustrative examples.