Data Management and a Spectral Solar UV Network

Abstract

Quantitative data of known precision and accuracy are essential for characterizing the weather factors causing polymeric construction materials exposed in the field to degrade. One such factor is solar spectral ultraviolet radiation. A small solar spectral ultraviolet radiation network has been established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center to provide this data. This network serves another, equally important function, in that it provides an opportunity to perfect the network's data management system. Hugh volumes of data are collected and an efficient data management system is needed to handle this large volume of data. This paper describes the data management system including data acquisition, cataloguing, processing, storage, retrieval and analysis.