Skip to main content

Data analysis and screening

The tools in this section interpret and present the data you have already collected. They screen lab results against criteria, let you explore and cross-tabulate results, plot them on a map, and chart monitoring series over time.

Two configuration objects govern how results are interpreted before any tool draws a conclusion:

  • A Data Management Plan (DMP) — assigned to a Project — sets unit conversion, summation, duplicate aggregation, and non-detect and EMPC handling. The Data Explorer, Crosstab, Map, and Time Series tools all apply the effective DMP automatically. (The qualifier that wins when results combine is set globally on each Qualifier, not on the DMP.)
  • A Screening Criteria Set — selected in a tool's filters — supplies the per-analyte limits a result is compared against. The same evaluator runs server-side for the Data Explorer, Crosstab, and Map, so the per-result verdict (Exceeds, Within Limits, Unscreenable, Not Applicable, or blank) never drifts between those tools — Data Explorer and Crosstab carry it per result, and the Map rolls it up per location. Time Series instead draws the Criteria Set's limits as series-level lines, not a per-result verdict.

You reach the analysis tools from the left nav: Data Analysis opens the hub at /data-analysis, which groups its tiles into an Analytical family (lab-result tools) and a Monitoring family (site-scoped trend charts). DMPs and Screening Programs are configured separately under Data Management → Configuration.

In this section​

  • Data Management Plans — define the rules that drive result interpretation: unit conversion, summation, duplicate aggregation, and non-detect handling, then assign the plan to a Project.
  • Screening — build Screening Programs and Criteria Sets, set per-analyte upper and lower limits, and understand how a result is judged an exceedance.
  • Create DMPs and screening criteria — the step-by-step task: author a Data Management Plan and a Screening Program, Criteria Set, and levels with Data Steward access.
  • Import screening levels — bulk-load a Criteria Set's levels from a CSV or Excel file using the downloadable template.
  • Data Explorer — query lab results ad hoc into a filterable, exportable grid, one row per result with full sample, analysis, and screening context.
  • Crosstabs — pivot results into a sample-by-analyte table with screening exceedances colored by Criteria Set.
  • Maps — plot sample locations spatially, with each marker colored by its rolled-up screening status (requires an ArcGIS key).
  • Monitoring charts — chart series over time: Hydrographs, Field Parameters, and Logger Data for site monitoring records, plus Time Series for lab analyte results (an Analytical-family tool documented here because it is also a time-axis chart).

How the tools fit together​

Every analytical tool shares one filter panel, one query backend, and the same screening and DMP logic, so a result reads the same wherever you open it. The diagram below shows the path from configuration to output.

Figure: A DMP and a Screening Criteria Set feed the shared pipeline and evaluator that every analytical tool renders.

Where to start

New to the section? Configure a Data Management Plan and assign it to your Project first, then define a Screening Criteria Set. With both in place, the Data Explorer is the quickest way to see screened results.