R/wql-package.R
wql-package.RdOne of the more tedious tasks in exploring environmental data sets is creating usable time series from the original complex data sets, especially when you want many series at will that group data in different ways. So wql also provides a way of transforming data sets to a common format that then allows a diversity of time series to be created quickly. A few functions are specific to the fields of limnology and oceanography.
The plots are designed for easy use, not for publication-quality graphs.
Nonetheless, extensive customization is possible by passing options through
...{}, adding annotations in the case of base graphics, and adding
layers in the case of ggplot2 objects.
Two functions are used mainly for preparing the times series:
a function that transforms incoming data to a common data
structure in the form of the WqData class
a function that easily prepares time series objects from this class
The WqData class can be easily adapted to non-aquatic data.
Obviously, the depth field can be used for elevation in atmospheric
studies. But more generally, the site and depth fields can be
used for many two-way classifications and don't need to refer to spatial
location.
Some of the time series functions include:
a variety of plots to examine changes in seasonal patterns
nonparametric trend tests
time series interpolation and related manipulations
a simple decomposition of a series into different time scales
phenological analyses
the use of empirical orthogonal functions to detect multiple independent mechanisms underlying temporal change
A few functions are specialized for the aquatic sciences:
converting between oxygen concentrations and percent saturation
converting between salinity and conductivity
The capabilities of wql are more fully explained in the accompanying vignette: “wql: Exploring environmental monitoring data”.
Useful links:
Report bugs at https://github.com/jsta/wql/issues