Using the Airstream Measurements Database Search Form

The Airstream Measurements Database Search Form, located in the upper frame, is used to search the HASP database for measurements taken during the Airstream program. All of the Search Form selection options are linked to this instructional frame. Please select your search criteria and submit the Form. After submitting the Form, your search will be executed and the search results will appear in this frame, replacing these instructions.

Please be patient and only click submit *once*.

You can move the window separator up or down to show the results better or execute another search from the Form.

The time taken to execute your query depends on the number of records returned. If you do not set limits on the records sought above, your query will return many records and will take several minutes to process, which may lead to a timeout error. Limiting your query to one site or to a range of dates is highly recommended. More limited queries should be much faster, and very specific queries should execute almost instantly. You can also reduce this delay by selecting fewer records to be displayed at one time. Once you click the submit button, there will be a pause while the query is executed on our database; then the data will begin downloading. Depending upon your web browser, you may or may not receive a visual indication of activity after clicking the submit button but the query *is* working.

Please be patient and only click submit *once*.

Selecting dates: You can select a beginning and ending month to limit your search, or you can search through all samples collected. The Airstream program ran from 1967 through 1983. In general, there were either three or four sampling runs per year, each lasting two weeks or more. During each run, samples were collected at each site in order to profile the stratospheric distribution of debris at the point in time. Selecting just a year will include all samples from that year and later/earlier. Selecting both a month and year will return all samples from that month and later/earlier. Selecting a month without a corresponding year is not meaningful, and if your start date is after your end date, your results set will be quite small.

Selecting measurements for display: Selecting the checkboxes will allow you to choose which isotope measurements you wish to display.

Sorting records: Records may be sorted by latitude from north to south, or south to north, or by date from earliest to latest.

Displaying records: This box allows you to select how many records will display on screen at one time. Extremely large HTML tables can cause problems with your web browser when it attempts to parse and display them and can increase the time needed to download the information over a slow internet connection. Choosing a large number of records at a time can create tables large enough to crash your web browser. You have been warned. On the other hand, the query is executed again for each page displayed, which can be time-consuming if the query is complex. This choice is only meaningful for the hyperlinked display and is ignored for the comma-delimited format.

Standard display: To display the search results on your screen, click the Submit button. All records which meet your criteria will be displayed, along with any appropriate columns of information according to your selections. Analysis ID's are linked to a pop-up display of measurement data about that sample for your convenience. The second icon links to a display of collection information for that sample. You will need to have Javascript enabled on your web browser to be able to click on them, and you can just close the pop-up window when you are done looking at the extra information. On newer web browsers, this window should pop to the front of your screen whenever you click on a new link to view. On older browsers however, it may stay hidden behind other windows. If you are using Windows, you can type (alt + tab) to bring the detailed information window to the front again.

Comma-delimited display: Comma-delimited format is useful to allow people to download sections of the HASP database and import them into spreadsheet or database applications. The format parallels the hyperlinked display - it should provide exactly the same records and fields as the hyperlinked display. You can thus refine your query with the web display and then download a file suitable for data manipulation. After clicking on the button, your web browser will ask if you want to save the file to disk - you should answer yes and give it a name ending in .txt because it is a plain-text file. When importing into other applications, you should treat all fields (or at least the sample ID fields) as "text" and not as "general" or "numeric" because many of the sample ID numbers have leading zeros which will be eliminated if they are treated as numbers. One further note: this file will be downloaded with DOS line endings (CR/LF). If you are using a Unix or Macintosh system, you may need to convert the file to the appropriate line endings for your operating system.

The EML Sample Archives makes available environmental radiological data collected for programs funded through the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the U. S. Energy Research and Development Administration and the U. S. Department of Energy. All of these programs have been terminated. The databases were last updated in 1999. No additional data will be added to these databases. Any inquiries about these programs should be made to webmaster@eml.doe.gov.