The data in this section are collected from manually read instruments, with the exception of the data in the WHAWKS, which are automatically collected from the WeatherHawk instruments. The WHAWKS table has no (database) relation to the other tables in this chapter, aside from a possible association with particular weather station locations. (See WSTATIONS.)
The MIN_MAXS view provides a way to view all the tables containing manually collected weather data at once, with each weather data collection event appearing as a single row.
The weather-related tables contain weather-related information and so do not directly relate to any of the baboon information contained in Babase.
This table contains one row for every time a rain gauge reading is recorded. There can be at most one RAINGAUGES row per WREADINGS row.
The identifier of the meteorological collection event during which the rain gauge was read. Must be a value contained in the WRid column of a row on the WREADINGS table, and the associated row may not be associated with any other row in RAINGAUGES.
This column cannot be changed; and must not be
NULL.
The interval, in an integral number of seconds, since the previous rain gauge collection event.
This column is automatically maintained by the
database and cannot be changed. This column must not be
NULL.
When the WREADINGS.WRdaytime values used to compute RGspan are not integral, the resulting RGspan value is rounded to the nearest second. Values of .5 seconds are rounded to the nearest even number of seconds.
When a new row is inserted the value of this column
is silently ignored and an automatically computed value is
used in its place. It is best to omit this column from
the inserted data (or specify the NULL
value).
Whether or not any estimated WREADINGS.WRdaytime
values were used in the computation of the RGspan column.
TRUE if any of the relevant WREADINGS.Estdaytime
values are true, FALSE otherwise.
This column is automatically maintained by the
database and cannot be changed. This column must not be
NULL.
When a new row is inserted the value of this column
is silently ignored and an automatically computed value is
used in its place. It is best to omit this column from
the inserted data (or specify the NULL
value).
The measurement of rain accumulated since the last time the rain gauge was read. In millimeters stored using a data type having a precision of 0.1 millimeter. For the precision and accuracy of the data itself see the Amboseli Baboon Research Project Monitoring Guide.
This column must be non-negative and may not be more
than 200.0. This column may not be
NULL.
This table contains one row for every time a rain gauge is installed. There can be no RAINGAUGES rows recording rain gauge measurements at any given weather station (WSTATIONS) unless there is a prior record of a rain gauge installation in RGSETUPS.
Rain gauge measurements are only meaningful when it is known how long the rain has been collected. In the event that, e.g., an elephant steps on the rainguage, there will be a period of time until the rain gauge is replaced. The first reading of the replacement rain gauge is not a measurement of rain since the last rainguage reading, but is instead a measurement of the rain collected since the replacement rain gauge was installed. The RGSETUPS table allows the system to compute RAINGAUGES.RGspan intervals when rain gauges are replaced, first installed, or after an interval of corrupted measurements.[151]
There cannot be a RGSETUPS row and a RAINGAUGES row for the same location at the same time.
The combination of RGSdaytime and Wstation must be unique.
A unique positive integer representing the rain gauge setup event.
This column is automatically maintained by the
database, cannot be changed, and must not be
NULL.
Code indicating the station at which the rain gauge was installed. Must be a value on the WSTATIONS table.
This column cannot be changed and must not be
NULL.
TRUE when the RGSdaytime column contains an estimated
time. FALSE when the RGSdaytime column is an accurate record
of the time the rain gauge was installed.
Initials of the person who collected the data. Must be a value contained in the Initials column of a row on the OBSERVERS table.
This table contains one row for every time a minimum temperature reading was recorded. There can be at most one TEMPMINS row for every WREADINGS row.
The identifier of the meteorological collection event during which the minimum temperature was read. Must be a value contained in the WRid column of a row on the WREADINGS table, and the associated row may not be associated with any other row in TEMPMINS.
This column cannot be changed; and must not be
NULL.
The minimum temperature recorded since the last
minimum temperature reading. The data type of this column
has one half decimal point of precision, the digit to the
right of the decimal point must be either a
0 or a 5. The actual
precision of the reading may be different depending upon the
units in which the temperature reading was recorded.
Consult the Amboseli
Baboon Research Project Monitoring Guide for further information
regarding the precision and accuracy of the data.
This table must contain a value between
-5 and
35, inclusive of endpoints,
and must not be NULL.
This table contains one row for every time a maximum temperature reading was recorded. There can be at most one TEMPMAXS row for every WREADINGS row.
The identifier of the meteorological collection event during which the maximum temperature was read. Must be a value contained in the WRid column of a row on the WREADINGS table, and the associated row may not be associated with any other row in TEMPMAXS.
This column cannot be changed; and must not be
NULL.
The maximum temperature recorded since the last
maximum temperature reading. The data type of this column
has one half decimal point of precision, the digit to the
right of the decimal point must be either a
0 or a 5. The actual
precision of the reading may be different depending upon the
units in which the temperature reading was recorded.
Consult the Amboseli
Baboon Research Project Monitoring Guide for further information
regarding the precision and accuracy of the data.
This table must contain a value between
10 and
50, inclusive of endpoints,
and must not be NULL.
This table is not yet implemented.
The data in this table is automatically collected from the WeatherHawk instruments.
The combination of WHdaytime and WHWStation must be unique.
The documentation regarding exactly what it is that is recorded by the WeatherHawk(s), or how the computation is done, is spotty in some cases.
Instrument accuracy may not, and probably does not, correspond with the recorded degree of precision. See the Protocol for Data Management: Amboseli Baboon Project and/or a WeatherHawk manual.
A unique positive integer representing the WeatherHawk's meteorological data collection event.
This column is automatically maintained by the
database, cannot be changed, and must not be
NULL.
Code indicating the station from which the data were collected. Must be a value on the WSTATIONS table.
This column must not be NULL.
Date and time of the measurement. Measurements must
be taken on the hour. Minutes, seconds,
microseconds etc must be 0.
The WeatherHawk data dump encodes this value in two separate places. The date is encoded in the first row of the first column of the data dump. The time is encoded in a column named “Time”.
This column must not be NULL.
Wind direction in degrees from North. Values must be
integers between 0 and
360, inclusive.
The values of bb_min_winddir and
bb_max_winddir represent the same direction.
There's no telling if one or the other of them means
something special, like “no measurement”. If
they really do represent the same direction then we should
probably change the rules and adjust the data values so
that legal values are between 0 and
359.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Wind Dir”.
This column must not be NULL.
Wind speed in Kilometers/Hour. Values must be
integers between 0 and
250.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Wind Spd”.
This column must not be NULL.
Wind gust value in Kilometers/Hour. Values must be
integers between 0 and
250.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Wind Gust”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column, other than its metric is a percentage. Presumably it has something to do with humidity.[152]
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Hum in”.
This column may be NULL.
Relative humidity; in units of percent. Values must
be integers between 0 and
100, inclusive.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Humidity”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column.[153]
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Temp In”.
This column may be NULL.
Temperature in degrees Celsius with
1 decimal point of precision. Values
must be between -10 and
50, inclusive.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Temp”.
This column must not be NULL.
Barometric pressure in millimeters of mercury with
2 decimal points of precision. Values
must be between 650 and
690, inclusive.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Raw Barom”.
This column must not be NULL.
The amount of rain since 12AM January 1st[154] in millimeters. This column always has a non-negative integral value.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Tot Rain”.
This column must not be NULL.
Evapotranspiration in units of millimeters with 2 decimal points of precision, calculated in some unknown fashion. This column always has a non-negative value.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Ev” before 2004-08-15 and “Et” on or after this date.
This column must not be NULL.
Battery voltage, in unknown units. A non-negative integer.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “BattV”.
This column must not be NULL.
Solar radiation in Watts per square meter. A non-negative integer.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Solar”.
This column may be NULL.[155]
There is no documentation on this column, other than its metric is degrees Celsius.[156]
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Heat Lx In”.
This column may be NULL.
A heat index in degrees Celsius with
1 decimal point of precision,
calculated in some unknown fashion. A non-negative value
strictly less than 1,000.0.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Heat Index”.
This column must not be NULL.
The amount of rain since midnight[157] in millimeters with 2
decimal points of precision. This column always has a
non-negative value strictly less than
1,000.00.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “DailyRain”.
This column must not be NULL.
The amount of rain since the turn of the last
hour[158] in millimeters with 2
decimal points of precision. This column always has a
non-negative value strictly less than
1,000.00.
The columns data values appear to be wrong.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “HourRain”.
This column must not be NULL.
The amount of rain in the previous 24 hours[159] in millimeters with 2
decimal points of precision. This column always has a
non-negative value strictly less than
1,000.0.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “24HrRain”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column, other than
its metric is degrees Celsius.[160] The data values in this column are
non-negative, have 1 decimal point of
precision, and a maximum value strictly less than
10,000.0.
This value is likely a “Degree Days Heating” or a “Degree Days Growing” value.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Deg Heat”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column, other than
its metric is degrees Celsius.[161] The data values in this column are
non-negative, have 1 decimal point of
precision, and a maximum value strictly less than
10,000.0.
This value is likely a “Degree Days Cooling” value.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Deg Cool”.
This column may be NULL.
The amount of rain since 12AM the first of the
month[162] in millimeters with 2
decimal points of precision. This column always has a
non-negative value strictly less than
1,000.0.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “MonthRain”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column, other than
its metric is degrees Celsius.[163] The data values in this column are
non-negative, have 1 decimal point
of precision, and a maximum value strictly less than
100,000.0.
This value is likely a “Degree Days Heating” or a “Degree Days Growing” gage that is reset at 12AM on the first of every month.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “DegHeat Mo”.
This column must not be NULL.
There is no documentation on this column, other than
its metric is degrees Celsius.[164] The data values in this column are
non-negative, have 1 decimal point
of precision, and a maximum value strictly less than
10,000.0.
This value is likely a “Degree Days Cooling” value.
The WeatherHawk data dump names this column “Deg Cool” gage that is reset at 12AM on the first of every month.
This column may be NULL.
The WREADINGS table contains one row for each time a person has collected data from the meteorological instruments. So, each WREADINGS row should have at least one associated RAINGAUGES, TEMPMINS, or TEMPMAXS row, but no more than one associated row from any one of these tables.
Automated weather readings are not recorded in WREADINGS .
For any one weather reading the minimum recorded temperature cannot exceed the maximum recorded temperature -- the TEMPMINS.Tempmin value related to the WREADINGS row cannot exceed the related TEMPMAXS.Tempmax value.
The combination of WRdaytime and Wstation must be unique.
The Wstation column cannot be changed when there is a related RAINGAUGES row.
A unique positive integer representing the meteorological data collection event.
This column is automatically maintained by the
database, cannot be changed, and must not be
NULL.
Code indicating the station from which the data were collected. Must be a value on the WSTATIONS table.
The day and time the meteorological data were collected. The time zone is Nairobi local time.
TRUE when the WRdaytime column contains an estimated
time. FALSE when the WRdaytime column is an accurate record
of the time the measurement was taken.
Initials of the person who collected the data. Must be a value contained in the Initials column of a row on the OBSERVERS table.
[151] One would think that the TEMPMINS and TEMPMAXS tables would need a "span" column similar to RAINGAUGES.RGspan, and a table to correspond to RGSETUPS. As it happens the extraordinary diligence of the field staff in taking regular temperature measurements, in conjunction with the keen analytical skills of the Babase user population, make such an enhancement a flagrant extravagance. Or, to put it another way, it mostly works the way it is so we're leaving well enough alone.
[152] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[153] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[154] Presumably.
[155] The WeatherHawks always report a value for this
column, however the instrument was reporting faulty
values for a period of time. An improved validation
rule would force the values to NULL
for the time interval(s) during which the instrument was
broken, and require non-NULL values
otherwise.
[156] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[157] Presumably.
[158] Presumably.
[159] Presumably.
[160] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[161] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[162] Presumably.
[163] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.
[164] It is, in fact, so undocumented that the datatype used in the database was chosen based on a guess and it's possible that information is lost in the conversion from the WeatherHawk data dump.