In January 1997, the
U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE),
Environmental
Sciences Division,
announced their
sponsorship of the
North American
Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone
(NARSTO) Quality Systems Science Center
(QSSC). The QSSC, located within CDIAC,
administers NARSTO-wide quality systems.
The purpose of NARSTO, an initiative of government agencies, industry, and the academic research community in the United States-Canada-Mexico, is to improve understanding of the formation and transport of tropospheric ozone, a serious air pollutant. If you would like to learn more about NARSTO, please visit the NARSTO home page (http://narsto.owt.com/Narsto/).
NARSTO's strategy for implementing total quality management is built around the QSSC. The QSSC provides the communications, critical oversight, and constructive assistance necessary for maintaining consistency and quality of all NARSTO products. The QSSC is an essential and integral part of the NARSTO program and the operational mechanism for integration and coordination of all quality assurance and assessment activities in NARSTO. The QSSC home page (http://cdiac.ornl.gov/programs/NARSTO/ narsto.html) provides access to the Quality Systems Management Plan (QSMP), which establishes NARSTO's quality assurance and data management requirements, standards, specifications, and guidelines.
Les Hook, QSSC Director, is responsible for NARSTO Quality Assurance Coordination. Tom Boden is responsible for Data Management Coordination, and the QSSC Chief Scientist is Meng-Dawn Cheng. The QSSC personnel have expertise and experience in atmospheric science, environmental engineering, and data management.
The QSSC envisions its role as scientists helping scientists do their job better and working to ensure the credibility, and usefulness, of NARSTO products.
