The next release of the Client Tool for both production and CTP is scheduled for December 17th. With that release, there will be one additional Hourly QA Status check added to the emissions data checking. The new QA status checks will be for daily calibration data. This is a new area of checking that does not exist in MDC-Hourly.

All of the other hourly QA status checks which are currently in the Client Tool were also in MDC-Hourly--Appendix D, Appendix E, RATA, and Linearity.

Also, similar to MDC, the flowcharts for these status checks are being made available. In the new release, the flowcharts will be added to the Client Tool Help file. In addition, the flowcharts for all of the types of hourly QA status checks have been posted on the Support Web site on the Check Specifications page.

Labels: Check Specifications

As part of the changes for Beta B SP1, a number of the check specifications were updated to reflect corrections. There were also some additional checks which were added, and these are in the new version of the check specifications. PDF versions of the six Check Specifications documents can be found on the Documents page.

There are a couple of other ways to view the check specifications. One way is to select Check Specifications from the Help menu in order to bring up the Check Specifications Viewer. Another way is to click on the Check Code link in any evaluation report. Clicking on the link will open the Check Specifications Viewer to the relevant check.

Click here to view a previous post on the Check Specifications Viewer.

Labels: Check Specifications

As many Beta testers have discovered, one of the more common monitoring plan evaluation errors is SYSTEM-23-A. The error message will be similar to the following: "You have not reported PRB component(s) that was/were active during the evaluation period for System ID 101. This component type is required in a SO2 monitoring system."

This evaluation error is based on a new requirement under the reporting instructions for ECMPS. The following text from the Characteristics of a Monitoring System section in the monitoring plan reporting instructions (page 55-56 in the latest version) is relevant:

CEMS systems must include the probe component in addition to the analyzer(s) and DAHS software.

This statement is actually too broad, and needs to be narrowed in the next version of the reporting instructions. The SYSTEM-19 check provides the exact criteria which are applied to determine if a system requires a probe. A probe is a required component for the system if the system monitors SO2, NOX, CO2, or O2, and if the system has a component that has a sample acquisition method code of DIL, DOU, DIN, EXT, or WXT.

To comply with the new requirement, for each CEMS system that was active on or after January 1, 2003, simply add a probe component and associate it with the system. The January 1, 2003 date applies because the Client Tool only performs evaluations of monitoring plan data from that date forward. If your monitoring plan includes systems that were ended before January 1, 2003, the monitoring plan evaluation will not find an error, although the CEMS system does not include a probe component.

Labels: Check Specifications, Reporting Instructions

One of the requirements for ECMPS was to have all of the data evaluated in the Client Tool prior to the data being submitted to the EPA. The Client Tool provides that functionality in the various data modules (Monitoring Plan, QA, and Emissions) and in a separate Evaluation module. In each of these modules, the user can select data to be evaluated, run the evaluation, and view the Evaluation Report. During the evaluation of the data, dozens of evaluation checks are being run against the data. The results are a report which indicates all of the checks that failed along with a description of the reasons that the checks did not pass.

In the Beta B version of the Client Tool, users can also get inside the evaluation checks that are being run. From the Evaluation Report, the user will be able to simply click on the evaluation check name in order to get more information about the check. Clicking on the link will open the Check Specifications Viewer.

(Click on the picture to view an enlarged copy.)

The Check Specifications Viewer will be opened to the check in question, and the user will be able to look at the logic associated with the evaluation check.

(Click on the picture to view an enlarged copy.)

Users can also look at other checks by navigating though the contents section of the Check Specifications Viewer. The viewer also has a search capability, and the checks can be printed out. Because the Check Specifications Viewer is a stand alone application, users can toggle between the viewer and the screens in the Client Tool.

In addition to accessing the Check Specifications Viewer from the Evaluation Report, users can also access the viewer from the Help menu in the Client Tool and by selecting "ECMPS Check Spec Viewer" from the ECMPS menu of programs in Windows Start | Programs.

Look for this new feature in the upcoming Beta B release.

Labels: Beta B, Beta B Coming Features, Check Specifications

In preparation for the beginning of the second session of Beta testing, the main page of the ECMPS Beta Testing Web site has been changed. The links to the downloads which applied to the first session of testing have been removed. These links included the installation for the software and several documents related to testing in the first session.

Links for downloading the Reporting Instructions, Check Specifications, and XML Schema document are still available. However, as mentioned previously, new versions of the Reporting Instructions and the XML Schema document will be released in conjunction with the Beta B release of the software. The Check Specifications will also be updated for Beta B. More information on that will be included in a future "Coming Features" post.

Labels: Beta B, Check Specifications, Reporting Instructions, XML

Thanks to an observant Beta tester, it became clear that the check specifications documents were not the most recent ones for monitoring plan and QA data.

To correct that, the check specifications documents which apply to ECMPS Client Tool SP1 have been posted to the Web site. Click here to download the zip file with all of the check specifications documents, or go the home page and click the "Draft ECMPS Check Specifications" link under the Documentation section.

Note, that these files are draft versions and they require an Adobe Acrobat reader to view because they are PDF files.

Labels: Check Specifications