Glossary of terms and labels

Acquisition method

The technical mechanism of data transfer.

Acquisition type

The broad characterization of whether Synoptic receives data by requesting it (PULL) or if it is delivered to us (PUSH).

Average latency

Time difference between report timestamps and data availability, averaged for all reporting platforms.

Contract line item

The NMP contract line item under which this platform's observations are counted.

Contracted platforms

The number of contracted platforms grouped by contribution type.

Daily network availability

Days available vs the number of possible days in the period.

Daily platform availability

The average number of platforms reporting at least once per day compared to the contracted number of platforms.

Days network was available

The number of days during the period where a connection between Synoptic and the provider was established.

Days platform was available

Number of days in period the platform made at least one report.

Expected latency

A summary or average of all expected latency values for all platforms included in the platform inventory.

Expected total reports

The total number of reports expected in the period based on the expected frequency for all platforms in the network. If a network includes more platforms than contracted, this value is the lowest number of expected reports for the number of platforms contracted.

Fractional hours

Number of hours on road measured against 160-hour threshold.

Hourly network availability

Hours available vs the number of possible hours in the period.

Hours (vehicle)

Number of hours on road.

Hours network was available

The number of hours during the period where a connection between Synoptic and the provider was established.

MADIS category

How MADIS is expected to categorize the data from this provider. This is for reference purposes and does not affect how MADIS has actually categorized any provider data.

Network availability

Hours network is accessible by Synoptic systems.

Platform category

Platform categorization: Professional Plus (Pro+) or Professional (Pro) (if applicable).

Platform expected latency

A provided description of the expected amount of time required for the average observation from a given site to be delivered to Synoptic and/or MADIS.

Platform provider identity

The name and identifier of the platform provided to Synoptic.

Platform received reports

The total number of reports received from the platform during the period as well as a percentage of the expected number of reports during the period given the provided expected frequency.

Platform report latency

The average amount of time between when an observation timestamp is assigned and when it is received at Synoptic for the period.

Platform reporting frequency

Provided expected interval between report timestamps in minutes. This is the inverse of the number of reports per unit time.

Platforms

The number of distinct mobile platforms that reported obesrvations in the period.

Platforms (aircraft)

The number of distinct aircraft that reported observations in the period.

Platforms (surface mobile)

Total number of vehicles reporting in the period.

Platforms available in period

The total number of platforms that reported at least once during the period compared to the contracted number of platforms.

Platforms included in inventory

The number of unique platforms for which metadata has been provided and no request to remove has been received. This is neither a function of data flow nor contract expectations.

Platforms meeting requirements

Number of platforms operating as measured against the 160-hour reference value threshold (20 days per month, 8 hours per day).

Platforms reporting daily

The average number of platforms reporting each day over the entire period.

Platforms reporting in period

The number of platforms that reported at least once during the period.

Possible platform reports

Daily reports received vs the number of reports that would be expected if every site included in the inventory were reporting. Can be above 100% if stations report more frequently than expected.

Received reports

The total number of unique timestamps indicated from every included platform in the network inventory.

Report percentage

Percentage of received reports to expected reports for all contracted platforms, based on the expected reporting frequency of each contracted platform. More information here.

Soundings

Total number of ascents and descents.

Synoptic platform identifier

A unique 5-10 character identifier used by Synoptic to process data and metadata for a platform. Due to issues of platform ID reuse, these identifiers often differ from those used by a provider.