Create a Single Station Report

This tutorial describes how to create a custom report for a single station in Report Generator. The example will use a SNOTEL station (Site 526, Hogg Pass) to create a report which compares snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow depth data for the current year and the previous year.

Overview

Briefly, there are five steps to create a custom, single-station report:

1. Select station
2. Select columns
3. Determine column order
4. Determine report layout
5. Create the report

Step 1: Select station

1. Start Report Generator.
2. Select the Create/Modify Report tab.
3. Add the Hogg Pass station to the Selected Stations list. In Select network: select SNOTEL from the dropdown list.
4. In Enter station(s): enter 526 (the station ID for Hogg Pass). Optionally, enter the first few characters of the Station Name to activate the auto-fill capability.
5. Select the Add button to add Station 526 to the Selected Stations list.

The Hogg Pass station is now the selected station for the custom report.
 

Step 2: Select columns

1. In the Select Columns pane, ensure the Data tab is selected.
2. In the Element area, select snow water equivalent. Select Depth = None, Value Type = Value, Function = None.
3. Select the Add button to add the element to the Manage Selected Columns list.

4. In the Element area, select snow water equivalent. Change the Value Type to Previous Year's Value.
5. Select the Add button to add the element to the Manage Selected Columns list.
6. In the Element area, select snow depth. Select Depth = None, Value Type = Value, Function = None.
7. Select the Add button to add the element to the Manage Selected Columns list.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7, using Previous Year's Value as the Value Type. The screen should look similar to the following.

Step 3: Determine column order

The next step is to determine the order in which the columns will be displayed.

1. To change the order of a column. Enable (select) the checkbox to the left of the snow water equivalent Previous Year's Value data type.
2. Select the Move Down button. The snow water equivalent Previous Year's Value will move down one level in order.

The report will contain snow water equivalent and snow depth data for the current year, followed by snow water equivalent and snow depth data for the previous year for the Hogg Pass station (526).

Now that the data types and order of the columns are complete, it's time to determine the layout of the final report.
 

Step 4: Determine report layout

For this example, the initial report will be generated with a frequency of monthly and a time series layout.

1. In the Select Time Period, Layout, and Units pane, select the following:

Frequency = Monthly
Report Instantaneous Data As = Start of Period 
Time Period = Current Calendar Year and All Months
Layout = Time Series
Units = English
Output Format = HTML

The report will contain snow water equivalent and snow depth data for the current year, followed by snow water equivalent and snow depth data for the previous year for the Hogg Pass station (526).

Now that the data types and order of the columns are complete, it's time to determine the layout of the final report.

 

Step 5: Create the report

Now that the station has been identified, the data types and their order defined, and the look and feel of the final report determined, it's time to view the report and analyze the results.

1. Select the  button. The results of the report are displayed in the View Report tab.

Note that snow water equivalent and snow depth data are displayed for the current and previous year for the Hogg Pass station (526).

2. To save the results of the report in comma-separated value format, select CSV from the Output Format dropdown list. A web page will open with the data from the report displayed.

3. Right-click on this web page and select Save as...
4. Save the file with a .csv extension.
5. To change the report from tabular to chart view, select Chart from the Layout drop-down menu. The table will display as a chart, similar to the one shown below.

Proceed to the Create a Multi-Station Report Tutorial