An alternative to selecting stations one-by-one using the auto-suggest selection method is to select using the "Advanced Search" screen. You can bring up the screen by clicking on "Advanced Search" link on the "Create/Modify Report" tab of the Report Generator.
The "Advanced Search" screen is shown below with annotations that show the four steps required to use the screen:
There are many ways to search for the stations to be selected. In the top left quadrant of the screen is a "Station Selection Criteria" section. Each of the text fields accepts a comma separated list of wildcard patterns (only the asterisk '*' and '?' wildcard characters are understood). The following table describes the different search criteria fields:
| Search Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Station Id | This is the station id of the stations. This can include wildcards and can be a comma separated list of station ids. If wildcards are used, the '*' can be used to match any number of characters and the '?' can be used to match a single character. The not operator '!' can be prefixed to any station id or station id pattern to exclude stations. |
| Station Name | This is the name of the station. This can include wildcards and can be a comma separated list of station names or station names with wildcards. |
| State | This is the two character state FIPS alphabetic code, case insensitive(such as 'OR' for Oregon or 'WA' for Washington).
This can be a single state code or a comma separated list of state codes. There is also a hidden feature that allows you to search for stations under the jurisdiction of a particular Data Collection Office (DCO) by entering the 2-character state code of the DCO followed by the letters 'DCO'. For example, if you want to search for stations in the Oregon DCO, type 'ORDCO' in the 'State' search field. You can enter more than more DCO in the same way that you enter more than one state. You can also enter a state and a DCO, but what results is the intersection of the DCO and the states entered (if you enter ORDCO and OR, you'll get only the stations that are in OR and in ORDCO) |
| County | This field will be filtered automatically based on the input of State field and you can pick up county/counties afterwards to be used as search criteria, if you don't specify a state, this field will be prepopulated with all counties with state separator. |
|
Network |
This is the network code of the station(s). Zero, one, or more networks can be selected. To select a single network, just click on the item. To deselect a network or to add another network to the selection hold down the CTRL key and click on the network to select or deselect. |
| HUC |
This is the hydrologic unit code. You can enter one or more 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 digit HUCs separated by commas.. |
| Min/Max Elev | This is the minimum and maximum elevation of the stations. None, one, or both of these filter fields can be specified. |
| Active Sites Only | If this box is checked, only stations that are still active will be returned. If this is unchecked, any station that matches the search criteria will be returned, even if the station is no longer in service. |
| Is Forecast Point | If this box is checked, only stations that are considered as forecast point will be returned. If this is unchecked, any station that matches the search criteria will be returned, even if the station is no longer in service. |
| Elements | This is used to select the elements that a station should have data for. If multiple elements are selected, a station will be returned if it has at least one of the elements selected |
When the filter is executed, there is an "OR" operator placed between the comma separated items in a given field and an "AND" operator placed between the various filter fields.
The following are some examples to illustrate how to use the filtering capabilities:
Example 1 - Find station 10360900
Station : 103060900
State :
Network :
HUC :
Min/Max Elev :
Example 2 - Find all stations in CA or NV
Station :
State : CA, NV
Network :
HUC :
Min/Max Elev :
Example 3 - Find all streamflow or reservoir stations in CA or NV where the station name begins with "LAKE"
Station : LAKE*
State : CA, NV
Network : STREAMFLOW, RESERVOIR
HUC :
Min/Max Elev :
Example 4 - Find all Snotel stations whose elevation is between 1000 and 7000 feet and are in HUC 18
Station :
State :
Network : SNOTEL
HUC : 18
Min/Max Elev : 1000 to 7000
Example 5 - Find all stations in Oregon that have incremental precipitation
Station :
State : OR
Network :
HUC :
Min/Max Elev :
Elements : precipitation increment
Adding additional stations:
Sometimes you will need to add stations to your selection that do not match your selection criteria. For example, lets say you wanted all of the SNOTEL stations in Oregon, but also wanted to include one station from Washington. In this case, you would set the "State" field to "OR" and select the "Network" "SNOTEL", hit the "Search" button, and then add the additional station using the "Enter station(s)" input field in the "Add additional stations" section. This section works the same way as the way you enter stations on the main "Create/Modify report" page. You simple pick a network in the "Select Network" pull down, and then enter the first couple characters of the station id or station name of the station you want to add and then click on the station that you want to add. Add stations that are added individually can be removed individually by clicking on the "Remove" link that is in the "Actions" column in the table of selected stations. Stations in the table that are a result of the station selection criteria will not have anything in the "Actions" column.
Close Button
Pressing the "Close" button will Close the window and return you the the Create/Modify Report page of the Report Generator. When you return to the Create/Modify Report page, any changes that you had made in the "Advanced Station Selection" screen will be reflected in the "Selected Stations" table