Development and Application of a Statistically-Based Quality Control for Crowdsourced Air Temperature Data

In urban areas, dense atmospheric observational networks with high-quality data are still a challenge due to high costs for installation and maintenance over time. Citizen weather stations (CWS) could be one answer to that issue. Since more and more owners of CWS share their measurement data publicly, crowdsourcing, i.e., the automated collection of large amounts of data from an undefined crowd of citizens, opens new pathways for atmospheric research. However, the most critical issue is found to be the quality of data from such networks. In this study, a statistically-based quality control (QC) is developed to identify suspicious air temperature (T) measurements from crowdsourced data sets. The newly developed QC exploits the combined knowledge of the dense network of CWS to statistically identify implausible measurements, independent of external reference data. The evaluation of the QC is performed using data from Netatmo CWS in Toulouse, France, and Berlin, Germany, over a 1-year period (July 2016 to June 2017), comparing the quality-controlled data with data from two networks of reference stations. The new QC efficiently identifies erroneous data due to solar exposition and siting issues, which are common error sources of CWS. Estimation of T is improved when averaging data from a group of stations within a restricted area rather than relying on data of individual CWS. However, a positive deviation in CWS data compared to reference data is identified, particularly for daily minimum T. To illustrate the transferability of the newly developed QC and the applicability of CWS data, a mapping of T is performed over the city of Paris, France, where spatial density of CWS is especially high.DFG, 322579844, Hitzewellen in Berlin, Deutschland - StadtklimamodifkationenBMBF, 01LP1602A, Verbundprojekt Stadtklima: Evaluierung von Stadtklimamodellen (Modul B), 3DO Teilprojekt 1: Dreidimensionales Monitoring atmosphärischer Prozesse in Berli

Quality control for crowdsourced data from CWS

To install the CrowdQC-package execute " install.packages(file.choose(), repos = NULL, type="source") " in your R installation. The included data is accessible with the command data("netatmoBer"). To try the developed quality control procedure, execute the routines m1 to m4 (and o1 to o3 for optional routines) with the included data. The package was build with R version 3.4.3.This package performs a quality control (QC) and filters suspicious data from citizen weather stations (CWS). It was designed for hourly air temperature data from Netatmo stations but should work with any normally-distributed data

A Miniaturized Extruder to Prototype Amorphous Solid Dispersions: Selection of Plasticizers for Hot Melt Extrusion

Hot-melt extrusion is an option to fabricate amorphous solid dispersions and to enhance oral bioavailability of poorly soluble compounds. The selection of suitable polymer carriers and processing aids determines the dissolution, homogeneity and stability performance of this solid dosage form. A miniaturized extrusion device (MinEx) was developed and Hypromellose acetate succinate type L (HPMCAS-L) based extrudates containing the model drugs neurokinin-1 (NK1) and cholesterylester transfer protein (CETP) were manufactured, plasticizers were added and their impact on dissolution and solid-state properties were assessed. Similar mixtures were manufactured with a lab-scale extruder, for face to face comparison. The properties of MinEx extrudates widely translated to those manufactured with a lab-scale extruder. Plasticizers, Polyethyleneglycol 4000 (PEG4000) and Poloxamer 188, were homogenously distributed but decreased the storage stability of the extrudates. Stearic acid was found condensed in ultrathin nanoplatelets which did not impact the storage stability of the system. Depending on their distribution and physicochemical properties, plasticizers can modulate storage stability and dissolution performance of extrudates. MinEx is a valuable prototyping-screening method and enables rational selection of plasticizers in a time and material sparing manner. In eight out of eight cases the properties of the extrudates translated to products manufactured in lab-scale extrusion trials

Dreidimensionale Observierung atmosphärischer Prozesse in Städten – 3DOSchlussbericht des Verbundvorhabens 3DOThree-dimensional observation and modeling of atmospheric processes in cities – 3DOfinal report for joint project 3DO

Ziel des BMBF-Programms 'Stadtklima im Wandel' war die Entwicklung, Validierung und Anwendung eines gebäudeauflösenden Stadtklimamodells für ganze Städte. Das Verbundprojekt 3DO übernahm die dem Modul B zugeordneten Forschungsaufgaben: Aufbereitung vorhandener Daten aus der Langzeitbeobachtung (LTO), Aufbau neuer Messstationen, Gewinnung neuer dreidimensionaler atmosphärischer Daten und die Entwicklung neuer Konzepte z.B. zur Modellevaluation. Untersucht wurden der Aufbau der atmosphärischen Grenzschicht, die Charakteristik der meteorologischen Parameter und deren Einfluss auf das thermische Empfinden des Menschen. Ein einheitlicher [UC]2-Datenstandard sowie Analysewerkzeuge wurden entwickelt und in ein Datenmanagementsystem und eine Wissensplattform für den modulübergreifenden Austausch integriert.Aim of the BMBF-Programme 'Urban Climate under Change' was development, validation and application of a building-resolving urban climate model for entire cities. The joint project 3DO took over the research tasks assigned to module B: Preparation of existing data from long-term observation (LTO), deployment of new measuring stations, acquisition of new three-dimensional atmospheric data and new concepts, e.g. for model evaluation. The structure of the atmospheric boundary layer, characteristics of meteorological parameters and their influence on the thermal sensation of humans were investigated. A uniform [UC]2 data standard as well as analysis tools were developed and integrated into a data management system and a knowledge base for cross-module exchange

Dreidimensionale Observierung atmosphärischer Prozesse in Städten – 3DOSchlussbericht des Verbundvorhabens 3DOThree-dimensional observation and modeling of atmospheric processes in cities – 3DOfinal report for joint project 3DO

Ziel des BMBF-Programms 'Stadtklima im Wandel' war die Entwicklung, Validierung und Anwendung eines gebäudeauflösenden Stadtklimamodells für ganze Städte. Das Verbundprojekt 3DO übernahm die dem Modul B zugeordneten Forschungsaufgaben: Aufbereitung vorhandener Daten aus der Langzeitbeobachtung (LTO), Aufbau neuer Messstationen, Gewinnung neuer dreidimensionaler atmosphärischer Daten und die Entwicklung neuer Konzepte z.B. zur Modellevaluation. Untersucht wurden der Aufbau der atmosphärischen Grenzschicht, die Charakteristik der meteorologischen Parameter und deren Einfluss auf das thermische Empfinden des Menschen. Ein einheitlicher [UC]2-Datenstandard sowie Analysewerkzeuge wurden entwickelt und in ein Datenmanagementsystem und eine Wissensplattform für den modulübergreifenden Austausch integriert.Aim of the BMBF-Programme 'Urban Climate under Change' was development, validation and application of a building-resolving urban climate model for entire cities. The joint project 3DO took over the research tasks assigned to module B: Preparation of existing data from long-term observation (LTO), deployment of new measuring stations, acquisition of new three-dimensional atmospheric data and new concepts, e.g. for model evaluation. The structure of the atmospheric boundary layer, characteristics of meteorological parameters and their influence on the thermal sensation of humans were investigated. A uniform [UC]2 data standard as well as analysis tools were developed and integrated into a data management system and a knowledge base for cross-module exchange