The date-hour format requires the entry of three header lines followed by an arbitrary number of lines of observed data, with one column for each observation time. It is useful for entering data from one station, for one parameter, recorded at multiple times of the day.
Header Block
Line 1: Keyword, File description
Line 2: Station_ID, DST Flag, PCode, CCode, Mult
Line 3: Column headings for the date and times data were observed.
Line 1: The keyword that describes the format of this file: DATEHOUR, and the file description is a single line of text used to describe the contents, purpose, and/or origin of the file. It’s contents can be anything defined by the user.
Line 2: Station_ID is the station identifier associated with this entire dataset. The Station_ID must be present in the WRDB STATIONS Support table. If data from more than one station are to be input, they must be placed in separate input files. The governing rule is: one file, one station.
The DST Flag must be either blank, to indicate standard times, or DST to indicate that data are in daylight saving time and are to be converted to standard time by DBCONV.
PCode is any valid PCode (parameter code) found in the WRDB PCODES Support table used to designate the parameter appearing in the data block below. For example, to designate that the data block contains dissolved oxygen values, enter the PCode of "DO" here.
CCode (compositing code) must be found in the WRDB CCODES Support table and will be applied to all values appearing in the table below.
Mult is numeric multiplier to be applied to all values in data block below. In addition to simple multipliers, the following special keywords are recognized:
blank no multiplier or multiplier is 1.0
C2F convert degrees C to degrees F
F2C convert degrees F to degrees C
COEF2C convert degrees F to degrees C after multiplying by 0.10 (needed for special files created by Corps of Engineers monitors)
Line 3: These column headings are used to verify that the correct number of months are being entered in the correct order and act as column headings. Typically enter:
Date Time1 Time2 Time3 &ldots;. TimeN
Date it the date of observation given in one of the following formats:
mm/dd/yy[yy], mm-dd-yy[yy], m/d/yy[yy], m-d-yy[yy], mmddyy[yy], mddyy[yy] (four digit years are optional)
Time(i) is the time of day (DST or standard time) assigned to all samples/readings in one of the following forms:
hh:mm, h:mm, hhmm, hmm, hhmmss, hmmss, hh:mm:ss AM, h, hh
Data Block
The table of daily data appears starting on the 4th line. The first column in the data block should be the date of observation. Columns 2 through n of the data block contain data corresponding to the times of observation indicated in the column headings. When entering values, the following special provisions apply:
<x.xx non-detect value, where the detection limit is specified as x.xx. There should be no space between the < and x.xx or DBCONV will consider them to be in different columns.
< or ND non-detect value, where the detection limit is taken from the WRDB PCODES support table.
>x.xx data exceeded some maximum value for that parameter. The maximum value is specified as x.xx. There should be no space between the < and x.xx or DBCONV will consider them to be in different columns. In cases where data results indicate "too numerous to count", use this code and enter the upper detection limit for x.xx.
NA or N/A skip this value. Upper or lower case are allowed. Blank entry also skips the value. Note that blank cells are not allowed in space-delimited files, but they are allowed if comma or tab delimiters are used. To be safe, always explicitly indicate that a reading is to be skipped using NA or N/A.