The NERC ARF strives to produce the highest quality service and data products possible, and therefore quality control is a key element in our airborne surveys. Acquiring bad quality data is extremely expensive and not worth the effort: good science is based on rigorously checked data sets. Therefore quality control (QC) of our data is performed through all the stages of our operations.
- Sensor calibrations are performed at least once a year by the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility at the end of the season.
- Periodically throughout the flying season in-flight spectral validation is conducted,
- During flights, the instrument operator checks the correctness of the sensor parameters in real time.
- Upon landing, the sensor and navigation data sets are pre-processed and checked for anomalies.
- Data transcriptions are checked for integrity, and digital photography for cloudiness/shadows and illumination
- Processed data are checked for broad accuracy of geometric correction and geo-location.
The last stage of QC is performed by our users. We provide feedback questionnaires to improve our understanding of final product quality and to increase the awareness of the QC process with our users. The assessment of the quality of the service provided by the Facility is also based on these forms.