PORP study plan

Diagram the full signal chain from sensor element to data logger for at least five instrument types (acoustic Doppler current profiler, tide gauge encoder, pressure transducer, anemometer, wave buoy) and label where each conversion or error source enters.

Classify the oceanographic and meteorological variables measured by a PORTS-style system into water level, currents, waves, meteorology, and water-quality groups, and state the standard SI unit and typical reporting precision for each.

Explain the operating principle of at least three water-level sensor technologies (float/encoder, pressure, acoustic, radar) and list two failure modes or environmental limits specific to each.

Describe how acoustic Doppler current profilers derive current velocity profiles, including bin size, blanking distance, and side-lobe considerations, and write a one-paragraph plain-language summary suitable for a non-technical stakeholder.

Compare at least four telemetry paths (cellular, satellite, spread-spectrum radio, hardwired/fiber) on latency, bandwidth, cost, power draw, and reliability, and select an appropriate path for three hypothetical station scenarios.

Trace a raw sensor reading through sampling rate, averaging interval, timestamping, and packet assembly, and identify where clock drift or latency can corrupt alignment with other sensors.

Diagnose three plausible data-acquisition faults (intermittent dropouts, duplicated timestamps, truncated packets) by describing the symptom, likely cause, and first diagnostic step for each.

Explain the role of a data logger's local buffer and backfill behavior during a communications outage, and state why store-and-forward design matters for gap-free records.

Define real-time QC versus delayed-mode QA/QC, and list the checks that can realistically run in an automated real-time pipeline versus those requiring analyst review.

Specify threshold, rate-of-change, spike, flat-line, and relational (cross-sensor) tests, and write the exact pass/fail logic for each in plain pseudocode.

Assign a flagging scheme to representative records (good, suspect, bad, missing) and justify each assignment against a stated test outcome.

Explain how QC thresholds should be set from site climatology and instrument specifications rather than guessed, and describe the risk of over-flagging versus under-flagging.

Describe how QC flags propagate to downstream products and why flags must be preserved rather than silently overwriting values.

Distinguish tidal datums (MHHW, MHW, MSL, MLLW, NAVD88, station datum) and state how each is computed from a water-level record and what reference frame it uses.

Compute a tidal datum from a sample one-month water-level series using the appropriate method, and explain why a 19-year National Tidal Datum Epoch is used for published datums.

Perform a datum reduction: convert a measured water level from station datum to MLLW and to NAVD88, showing each arithmetic step and the sign convention.

Explain how tide predictions are generated (harmonic constituents, amplitude and phase, prediction from analysis) and distinguish predictions from observations and from forecasts.

Design a QC rule that catches a water-level series whose datum or offset appears to have shifted after a sensor swap or leveling adjustment.

Compare harmonic analysis, subtidal filtering, and simple averaging for extracting tidal signal, and state when each is appropriate.

Describe how wave parameters (significant wave height, peak period, direction) are derived from raw displacement or pressure spectra, and explain the limitations of pressure-based wave measurement.

Explain current measurement geometry: coordinate systems (east/north/up), bin mapping, and how to interpret a vertical velocity profile including near-surface and near-bottom artifacts.

Identify at least three non-tidal influences on water level (storm surge, river discharge, seiche, seasonal steric effects) and describe how each would appear in a residual series.

Evaluate a prediction-versus-observation residual plot and state what a systematic bias versus a random scatter implies about the analysis.

Build a preventive maintenance schedule for a tide/current station covering sensor cleaning, desiccant and battery checks, leveling verification, clock sync, and firmware review, with realistic intervals.

Write a troubleshooting decision tree for a station that has stopped reporting, branching on power, communications, logger, and sensor causes, with a test at each node.

Draft a field visit checklist that a technician could follow without prior site knowledge, including pre-departure, on-site, and post-visit sections.

Identify the safety and environmental compliance obligations for a field visit: permits, protected species and habitat considerations, hazardous materials handling, and personal protective equipment.

Describe the correct procedure for a datum check or leveling verification during a site visit and explain why an undocumented adjustment can invalidate the record.

Map the stakeholder landscape for a PORTS-style program (port authority, pilots, Coast Guard, coastal managers, researchers, public) and state the specific decision each makes with the data.

Explain the governance structure that sets data standards, review, and publication authority, and describe how a change to a QC threshold or datum would be approved and communicated.

Match at least four data products (real-time displays, forecasts, archived datasets, derived indices) to the user groups that rely on them, and state the latency and accuracy each user needs.

Describe data dissemination channels and formats, including machine-readable access, metadata requirements, and how users are notified of outages or revisions.

Take two full-length practice exams under timed conditions and score each by domain to identify the weakest two areas.

Re-study the two weakest domains using the notes and deliverables produced in earlier weeks, and rewrite any deliverable that proved incomplete.

Recite from memory the key definitions and formulas: tidal datum definitions, QC flag meanings, datum conversion steps, and telemetry trade-offs.

Explain aloud, in under two minutes each, how a water level travels from sensor to public product and where each QC gate sits.