Terminology Services

STORET Legacy Data Center Glossary

Long Name:

STORET Legacy Data Center Glossary of Terms

Description:

The definitions of terms and acronyms used throughout the STORET Legacy Data Center site.

Publishing Organization:

Office of Water/Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds

Last Update:

May 16, 2007

Program Site:

https://www.epa.gov/waterdata/water-quality-data

Terms & Acronyms

Search Terms

Contains Begins Exact Match

	Term
	Advanced Query	Definition: The method for generating a report from the database that is geared towards users who are familiar with the selection criteria and terminology used in the legacy STORET system. This form is more compact than the simple query process, as all of the selection criteria appear on a single page.
	Agency	Definition: This term is now obsolete; in the modernized STORET systems the entity responsible for the data is referred to as an Organization. Preferred Term: Organization
	Agency Code	Definition: This term is now obsolete; in the modernized STORET systems the unique identifier is referred to as an Organization Code. Preferred Term: Organization Code
	Agency Name	Definition: This term is now obsolete; in the modernized STORET systems the name is referred to as an Organization Name. Preferred Term: Organization Name
	Ambient Measurement	Definition: A measurement of the concentration of a substance or pollutant within the immediate environs of an organism taken to relate to the amount of possible exposure.
	Ambient Medium	Definition: Material surrounding or contacting an organism (e.g., outdoor air, indoor air, water, or soil) through which chemicals or pollutants can reach the organism.
	Aquifer	Definition: An underground geological formation, or group of formations, containing water. They are sources of groundwater for wells and springs. The LDC contains valid, historic aquifer codes and names as determined by the U.S. Geological Survey. The table can be downloaded from the Reference Tables Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/ref_tables.htm).
	Beginning Date	Definition: The term used in the querying process to denote the earliest date the Sample Start Date may be in order for the sample to be included in the report.
	BIOlogical System	Definition: Similar to STORET, it stores biological data for the EPA. Acronym: BIOS
	Characteristic	Definition: The new STORET version of the legacy STORET parameter code system. Characteristic is connected to the Parameter when available. Both tables are available for downloading from the Reference Tables Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/ref_tables.htm).
	Composite/ Grab Number	Definition: A numeric value representing the total number of grab samples in a composite sample.
	Composite Method	Definition: The method by which a composite of two or more samples is created. View the entire Composite Method reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/compmeth.htm).
	Composite Sample	Definition: A series of water samples taken over a given period of time and weighted by flow rate.
	Composite Statistic	Definition: Statistics (e.g. average, maximum, minimum) and performance types (e.g., accuracy, precision) that STORET may store for a (non-effluent) composite of several grabs. View the entire Composite Statistic reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/compstat.htm).
	Contact	Definition: Person registered as the owner of station, sample, and result information. You may access this information selectively by creating a Contacts Query (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/contacts.htm) or you may view the entire Contacts information reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/contact_list.htm).
	Effluent	Definition: Wastewater--treated or untreated--that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. This term generally refers to wastes discharged into surface waters.
	Effluent Monitoring Intent Code	Definition: The code used to segregate data collected from different monitoring activities, but which were conducted under the same agency code.
	Effluent Monitoring Intent Name	Definition: The name used to segregate data collected from different monitoring activities, but which were conducted under the same agency code. The NPDES program has gathered a considerable amount of effluent data through its permit application forms, including data on 126 priority toxic pollutants, which were provided on the NPDES application form 2C. Access to the Form 2C data stored in STORET is recommended via parameter code 84093, which identifies those stations that have form 2C data stored. View the entire Effluent Monitoring Intent Name reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/effmntg.htm).
	Effluent Statistic	Definition: A reference table containing effluent statistic types. When the primary activity category for a sample is Effluent Permit Condition or Effluent Sample, an effluent statistic type may be present for a sample/parameter/result combination. View the entire Effluent Statistic reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/effstat.htm).
	End Time	Definition: The composite sample end time based on a 24-hour clock.
	Ending Date	Definition: The term used in the query process to denote the maximum date the sample start date may be in order for the sample to be included in the report.
	Enviromapper	Definition: The GIS based mapping software that can be used to visually select the stations to be included in a query.
	EPA Major Basin Code	Definition: The code representing the archaic EPA major basin developed as part of a drainage area delineation scheme.
	EPA Minor Basin Code	Definition: The code representing the archaic EPA minor basin developed as part of a drainage area delineation scheme.
	Federal Information Processing Standards	Acronym: FIPS
	First Date Recorded	Definition: In the Aggregate Data Summary, it is the oldest Sample Start Date for the specified parameter.
	Hydrologic Unit Code	Definition: The code used to identify the hydrologic unit of the station based on FIPS. The entire reference table can be downloaded from the Reference Tables Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/ref_tables.htm). Acronym: HUC
	Hydrologic Unit Region	Definition: The first two digits in the Hydrologic Unit Code that divides the country into twenty-one regions. Visit the USGS Homepage to learn more about Hydrologic Unit Regions.
	Last Date Recorded	Definition: In the Aggregate Data Summary, this value is the most recent Sample End Date for the specified parameter. However, if only grab samples exist for this parameter, this value represents the most recent Sample Start Date.
	Latitude	Definition: The angular distance north or south of the earth's equator along a meridian of longitude.
	Legacy STORET Level	Definition: Legacy STORET breakdown of station type qualifiers into six levels. Each has a table that can be viewed from the Reference Tables Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/ref_tables.htm).
	Legacy STORET Station Type	Definition: The text code that preserves the encoded legacy station type field. This value can be decoded to determine the legacy station type codes.
	Longitude	Definition: The angular distance east or west of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, England.
	Migration	Definition: The movement of data from the mainframe legacy STORET application to the new Legacy Data Center.
	Miles Up Reach	Definition: The value used to identify the station location indicated by the number of miles up the reach.
	Old EPA Basin Code	Definition: A concatenation of the two digit EPA Major Basin Code, the two digit EPA Minor Basin Code, and the two digit Sub Basin Code.
	On/Off Reach	Definition: Flag indicating if a station is on an indexed search.
	Organization	Definition: The owner of the station, sample, and result information.
	Organization Code	Definition: The eight digit code identifying the organization responsible for the data. It identifies the owner of the data and is used to provide authorization for updating or deleting data for specific organizations. Organization codes were user defined prior to 1977. Since 1977, they have been assigned by the STORET system manager. The combination of an organization code and a station identifier uniquely identifies a site.
	Organization Name	Definition: Name identifying the organization responsible for the data. It identifies the owner of the data and is used to provide authorization for updating or deleting data for specific agencies.
	Output Format	Definition: Reports can be created in three different formats depending on the user's choice. HTML: This type of report will load up directly into the browser and can be saved in .htm format for later viewing within the browser. This report type is the fastest to download, but is not as easy to read as a PDF; PDF: This type of report requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, available from the Adobe Homepage. This report will either open automatically or prompt for confirmation depending on the browser's preferences. PDF documents maintain formatting information better than HTML, but they are slower to download; TXT: This type of report will load up directly into the browser and should be saved to the hard drive for viewing in a spreadsheet. The file is comma delimited, so any spreadsheet application (such as Excel) can separate the columns easily. It is important to import all of the columns as text, so that leading zeros are not dropped from numbers like the HUC.
	Parameter	Definition: The substance or property being measured. The parameter is replaced by the concept of a Characteristic in new STORET. The entire list of parameters can be downloaded from the Reference Tables Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/ref_tables.htm).
	Parameter Code	Definition: Numeric code uniquely identifying a STORET parameter. Legacy STORET parameter codes also have non-result usage. Examples of non-result parameter codes include: sample qualifiers, result qualifiers, lab descriptors, people descriptors, and location descriptors.
	Parameter Group	Definition: Major groups of STORET parameter codes. View the entire Parameter Group reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/paragrp.htm).
	Parameter Name (Short or Long)	Definition: The description associated with the parameter code. Parameters have one long name and three short names.
	Pipe ID	Definition: Pipe identifier for an effluent sample.
	Primary Activity Category	Definition: Codes used to define a sample type and categories based on the media number in legacy STORET. View the entire Primary Activity Category reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/primact.htm).
	Primary Secondary Combo	Definition: System generated unique identifier for an assignment between a Primary and Secondary Activity Category.
	Replicate Number	Definition: BIOS sample replicate number.
	Report Type	Definition: There are three different types of reports you can receive. Station Description Report: This type of report contains information pertaining only to the stations included in the query. No sample or result data is included in the report. However, sample/result related user inputs may limit the stations that appear in the report; Summary Data Report: This report contains basic station information, the number of results, and the date range for each available parameter; Detailed Data Report: This is the raw data collected for individual results. Basic station and sample information associated with each set of parameter codes, result values, and remark codes are included on each page of this report.
	Reporting Units	Definition: The code representing the measurement scale that accompanies a numeric value (e.g., degrees Centigrade, mg/l). View the entire Reporting Units reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/rptunits.htm).
	Result	Definition: Data value for a sample result or a code representing an observation (e.g., WMO codes). Result values can be numeric or alphanumeric values. Non-detects are remarked values in the legacy system.
	Result Remark	Definition: A single character code and definition used to further quantify a result.
	RF1 Reach Segment	Definition: The reach segment portion of the reach index system.
	Sample	Definition: Monitoring activity (e.g., ambient samples, measurements, observations, QC samples) that is performed at a specific date, time, and location in order to characterize the environment.
	Sample Depth	Definition: The distance from the water surface at which a sample was taken.
	Sample End Date	Definition: The date on which the final composite sample was taken. Not present for a grab sample or if the UMK is present.
	Sample Media Analysis Type	Definition: The analysis types used to describe a parameter code (e.g., filter fraction, weight basis). View the entire Sample Media Analysis Type reference table (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/sampmed.htm).
	Sample Start Date	Definition: The date on which a grab sample was taken or the start date of a composite sample.
	Sample Type	Definition: The method by which a composite of two or more samples is created. Examples of composite methods include grab and continuous.
	Secondary Activity Category	Definition: The codes used to define a sample type that is based on the media code found in the legacy STORET system.
	Simple Query	Definition: The search method geared towards users who are unfamiliar with the legacy STORET system and require information based on general criteria. Search criteria are inputted in a step-by-step process in order to limit potential errors. The three types of simple queries are the State/County Query (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/list_states.htm), the Hydrologic Unit Code Query (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/huc_region.htm), and the Canadian Query (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/canada.htm).
	Species Name	Definition: Name used to describe the species of a sample in legacy STORET.
	Start Time	Definition: The time at which a grab sample was taken or the start time of the composite sample, based on a 24-hour clock.
	Station	Definition: The recorded location where monitoring activities occur.
	Station Alias	Definition: User-assigned alternative identifiers for stations in legacy STORET as captured in the Agency Station File (ASF). One station may have up to three aliases.
	Station Depth	Definition: The usual or typical depth of water at the station, measured in feet.
	Station ID	Definition: The code used by the legacy system to denote the primary station identifier.
	Station Name	Definition: The text that was originally used to describe the location. This field may contain the Major and Minor Basin names or other information such as addresses.
	Station Type Indicator Description	Definition: The type of water the station tests (Surface Water, Ground Water, or Pipe Water).
	Storage and Retrieval of Water-Related Data	Definition: See the Purpose Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/purpose.htm) for more information. Acronym: STORET
	Store Date	Definition: The date the data was entered into the STORET system.
	STORET Legacy Data Center	Definition: An interim relational database that houses data migrated from the Legacy STORET system. See the Purpose Page (http://www.epa.gov/storpubl/legacy/purpose.htm) for a detailed description. Acronym: LDC
	Sub Basin Code	Definition: Code representing the user defined sub basin developed as a part of a drainage area delineation scheme.
	Tissue Name	Definition: Name used to describe the tissue of a sample in legacy STORET.
	United States Environmental Protection Agency	Acronym: EPA
	United States Geological Survey	Acronym: USGS
	User Multi-purpose Key	Definition: This free text is not present if End Date is not null. Acronym: UMK
	USGS Field Lab Code	Definition: Indicates where the measurement was made (i.e., in the field or in the lab) as defined by the USGS.

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