Ensuring Quality

Providing Reliable, Long-Term Data

The OOI is committed to providing reliable, long-term data that have been tested, vetted, and undergone rigorous quality assurance and control procedures so OOI datasets can be easily integrated into research and in the classroom.

Our quality assurance efforts involve processes and procedures that improve data quality, including training, documentation, monitoring, and audits. Our quality control  focuses on finding any defects in the data that may exist to meet the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Quality Assurance of Real Time Ocean Data (QARTOD) quality control standards. These standards are stringent, ranging from providing a quality descriptor for each observation to ensuring that metadata describe any quality issues that may impact the reliability of the collected data and how those issues have been resolved.

We monitor the status of OOI data from end-to-end—from the time it is collected to when it is downloaded by potential users, using manual checks and automated procedures to ensure the data delivered can be trusted.