1. OPERATIONS Wayne Newcomb SSAI/NASA/AERONET

2. Overview Total Instruments in the Federation Instrument count through time Transmission Errors Cimel Errors AERONET Calibration Facility Dear Wayne The Calibration Process So you are stuck being a site manager #159 A Site Manager Who Cares

3. Total Instruments in the Federation 8:00 am May 3rd, 2004 AERONET 89 PHOTON 38 OTHERS 109 TOTAL 236

4. Instruments Through Time

5. Total Instruments at GSFC TOTAL 45 Standard 28 SWIR 4 Polar 6 SeaPRISM 2 Master 4 Master SWIR 1 Ownership: AERONET 25 OTHERS 20

6. Total Instruments in Federation Cal at least 12 months old 45 On the way to GSFC 7 On the way to the field 6

7. Transmission Errors PlatformInstruments GOES 83 METEOSAT 52 GMS 11 Total 146 Problems 41 Missing Messages Time Incorrect

8. Cimel Errors Instruments Total146 Errors 42 Robot36 Filter wheel6

9. AERONET Calibration Facility January – December 2003 130 Cimels for calibration, re-calibration, or repair 120 Cimel calibrations or re-calibrations 14 New standard instruments 13 Extended wavelength instruments 13 Deployments of Master Instruments to MLO

10. Dear Wayne I hope this message finds you and your family well. If you receive our Cimel unit for calibration next week, when might you expect to be able to ship it back to us? We have a field campaign beginning next week in …..

11. The Calibration Process Inter-calibrated as received from the field Performance and data quality are evaluated Needed maintenance is performed Filters are replaced if needed Inter-calibration is repeated Overall performance is evaluated and instrument is declared “Field Ready”

12. So you are stuck being a site manager Do not worry, it’s automatic. It says so on the box!

13. So you are stuck being a site manager The CE 318 automatic tracking photometer has been designed and realized to be a very accurate sun photometer with all the qualities of a field instrument: motorized, portable, autonomous (solar powered) and automatic!

14. So you are stuck being a site manager The Cimel sunphotometer (CSPOT) is a multi-channel, automatic sun-and-sky scanning radiometer that measures the direct solar irradiance and sky radiance at the Earth's surface. Measurements are taken at pre-determined discrete wavelengths in the visible and near-IR parts of the spectrum to determine atmospheric transmission and scattering properties. This instrument is weather-proof and requires little maintenance during periods of adverse weather conditions. It takes measurements only during daylight hours (sun above horizon).

15. No More Contact Required #159 – BAHRAIN – DON’T APPRECIATE RUDE NOTES!! DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS SYSTEM ANYMORE!!! SYSTEM HAS NOT OPERATED PROPERLY SINCE INSTALLED!!! WAS TOLD IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS MAINTENANCE FREE!!! RAPIDLY BECAME MY BIGGEST HEADACHE!!! REQUEST YOU SEND SOMEONE TO FIX/DEINSTALL OR MOVE TO A LOCATION WHERE PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN BABYSIT THIS MAINTENANCE FREE SYSTEM!!! NO MORE CONTACT REQUIRED!!! THANK YOU AGC(SW) WILLIS

16. A Site Manager Who Cares Milking the web site for information We must have help from a pro-active Site Manager Daily Issues Transmissions and their size Errors, Batteries, and Spider Webs

17. A Site Manager Who Cares Weekly Maintenance Clocks, Corrosion, Collecting Data Swapouts AERONET sites are sent “swapouts” to prevent data gaps

18. A Site Manager Who Cares Contact with Mt. AERONET Automatic emails Webcam User Groups Chat Rooms FAQs