UST ESI: Frequently Asked Questions - Pre-Load Process

Pre-Upload Process Overview

NOTE: GROWERS PARTICIPATING IN THE IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL LAND WAIVER ENOI PROGRAM SHOULD FOLLOW THE SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED BY THEIR REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD OFFICE

5.1 Requesting access to a site/facility in GeoTracker

  • Obtain a USERNAME/PASSWORD
  • RPs and Authorized RP Agents request access to your site to begin process of claiming your site
    If Contractor or Laboratory check first with your RP/Authorized RP Agent client to make sure they have already claimed the site.
  • If Contractor or Laboratory, after requesting a site online, notify your RP/Authorized RP Agent client to go online and approve your request If Authorized RP Agent, after requesting access to your site, be sure to write the Global ID on the “Authorized RP Agent Authorization Form”, fill out the rest of the form, have the RP sign it, convert it to a PDF file and upload it using “Upload Auth RP Form” (in the “Facility Management” section).
  • Add your site’s Field Point Names interactively using the “Edit Field Points” tool or upload a text file containing multiple Field Point Names using the “Upload EDD > FIELD POINTS” tool.
  • Check your EDDs (online error check). Fix any errors found (EDFs may need to be sent back to the originating Laboratory)
  • Upload EDDs - There is no specific order required. If you have an EDF ready to go, you can upload it prior to uploading GEO files. Each successful upload is assigned a unique “Confirmation #.” You can later re-display the successful upload confirmation page for any submittal by clicking on that submittal’s Confirmation # (CONF_NUM) on the page that lists all ESI submittals for that Global ID (on the left under “View Submittals,” click on “By Facility,” then click on the facility’s name to display the list of all submittals for that Global ID).

5.2 Authorized RP Agent requesting multiple Global IDs for same RP at the same time

If you have requested access to multiple Global IDs on behalf of the same RP and they are now listed in your “Pending Facilities,” you can send the SWRCB just one completed Authorization Form with an attached sheet (or sheets) containing a list of the requested Global IDs and site/facility names and addresses. Write “see attached sheet” (if more than one sheet, write “see attached sheets” plus the number of sheets in parentheses) in the Global ID box on the Authorization Form.

5.3 What is a “Field Point Name (FPN)”?

  • The Field Point Name (FPN) is the unique identifier that the RP (or their RP Authorized Agent, Contractor, or Laboratory) assigns to a specific sample point (location) where measurements or samples are taken, e.g. MW-1 (Monitoring Well 1), B-1 (Borehole 1), etc.
  • The FPNs should normally match those used in the written report (any discrepancies should be explained in the narrative).
  • It is best not to use commas or quotes or apostrophes in the FPN. FPNs can be added interactively to a Global ID’s list of FPNs using “Edit Field Points” or uploaded as a text file. Before you can upload GEO_XY, GEO_Z, GEO_WELL, GEO_BORE, or EDF files , the FPN(s) you are uploading to must be present on the Global ID’s list of FPNs. The FPNs used in GEO_XY, GEO_Z, GEO_WELL and EDF uploads must match exactly how they are shown on the FPN list (e.g. MW-1 is NOT the same as MW1) or an upload error will be generated.
  • If you receive an EDF file from the lab that uses FPNs that are slightly different from the FPNs you have already been uploading to (e.g. they used MW1 instead of MW-1), you will get “Field Point Name (LOCID): is invalid.”) errors when you try to upload the EDF (note: LOCID ( Location ID) is what early versions of the EDF format called the “Field Point Name”). DO NOT add the EDF’s FPNs to your Global ID’s list of FPNs as new versions of already existing FPNs. Instead, change the FPNs in the EDF so they match the existing FPN(s) you have been uploading to. You can either have your lab fix them, or you can use a text editor (e.g. Windows Notepad) to edit the EDFSAMP.txt & EDFTEST.txt, or the EDFFLAT.txt files, (call the Geotracker Help Desk at 1-866-480-1028 for assistance in editing your EDF’s FPNs).
  • On the other hand, if no data (including GEO_BORE) has been uploaded to that sample location yet and you decide to use the lab’s FPN version from now on, you can use the “Edit Field Point” tool (at upper left, under “TOOLS”) to delete the existing FPN from that Global ID’s FPN list by clicking on the blue “x” to the left of the FPN (the “x” is only displayed when there is nothing uploaded yet to that FPN). The important thing is to use the same FPN version from now on.
  • To avoid “Field Point Name (LOCID): is invalid.” errors in the future, once you have established an FPN in Geotracker for a particular sample location tied to a Global ID and have uploaded data to it, everyone should continue using that same FPN version when uploading any type of data to that sample location for that Global ID. If the COC (chain-of-custody) the lab receives has the correct Geotracker FPN on it and the lab enters it correctly when creating the EDF, you will avoid getting an “Invalid Field Point Name (LOCID)” error for that sample when you upload it.
  • The Field Point Names on the list of FPNs should agree with the well names and borehole names used in the written report submitted to the lead oversight agency caseworker. The lead agency will often reject EDFs where the field point names do not match well names and borehole names in the written reports. The SAMPID field is the sample identification as listed on the COC. In many cases this will be identical to the entry in FIELD_PT_NAME.
  • Depth Specific Sampling - Do not use separate FPNs for each sample depth! When samples are taken at multiple depths, use the same FPN for all samples taken and enter the FPN along with the depth information in the SAMPID field. For example, for bore hole soil samples, please upload a single Field Point Name for each borehole (e.g. B-1) and use the SAMPID field to identify the sampling depth in feet (e.g. B-1d5.0, B-1d10.0, etc.). For nested wells, each "well" should be entered with a separate Field Point Name (i.e. MW-1A, MW-1B, MW-1C). If depth discrete sampling is performed within a single groundwater well, please upload a single Field Point Name for the well (e.g. MW-1) and use the SAMPID field to identify the sampling depth in feet (e.g. MW-1d15.0, MW-1d20.0...).
  • Sample Duplicates – Do not use separate FPNs for duplicate samples taken at the same sampling point. Instead indicate that a sample is a duplicate in the SAMPID field of the EDF file while using the same FPN.

5.4 How do I add FPNs and well construction data?

FPNs and well construction information can added to a Global ID interactively by clicking on “Edit Field Points” (under “TOOLS” at upper left) and then clicking on the facility’s name. That will display the current list of FPNs. To add a new FPN, click on “ADD FIELD POINT NAME / WELL CONSTRUCTION” (at upper left under the facility name and address). Enter the “FIELD POINT NAME”, select the appropriate “FIELD POINT CLASS” from the drop down list (note that field QC selections (trip blank, equipment blank, etc.) are at the bottom of the drop down list). You can also upload multiple FPNs all at once by uploading a tab delimited or comma delimited text file by clicking on “UPLOAD FIELD POINTS / WELL CONSTRUCTION” (click on “FIELD POINT UPLOAD INSTRUCTIONS” for instructions on creating the text file). You can also download the current list of FPNs for that Global ID by clicking on “DOWNLOAD FIELD POINTS / WELL CONSTRUCTION.”

The “ALTERNATIVE FACILITY ID” is optional and typically left blank unless the RP wants you to enter it. It is used when the RP has their own non-Geotracker facility or site code (for example, a large oil company that assigns a station number to each of their service stations).

The “Non-Surveyed” and associated “Latitude” and “Longitude” fields can be modified if the Field Point Class is not a groundwater monitoring well. After clicking on the “Non-Surveyed” checkbox, you would be able to enter the latitude and longitude information in their respective fields or use the map to mark the location of the well. As the marker is dragged, the latitude/longitude information is automatically populated.

5.5 When do I add/upload the FPNs?

An FPN must be present on the Global ID’s list of FPNs before you can upload EDF, GEO_XY, GEO_Z, GEO_WELL, or GEO_BORE data to that FPN.

5.6 How do I change, delete or add a FPN?

Tip: If you are going to be modifying your FPN list, keep in mind that, before making any changes, you can download the current list of FPNs by using the “Edit Field Points” tool (under TOOLS) to go to that Global ID’s list of FPNs and then click on “Download Field Point Names” to save the current list of FPNs as an Excel compatible file so you’ll have it just in case you need to refer to later. Alternatively, if you want to download all of your FPNs for all of your Associated Global IDs, scroll down the left hand margin of the page to the “Download” section at the bottom left and click on “Field Point Names” to download an Excel-compatible file of all of your FPNs.

You can edit an existing FPN’s information but you cannot edit its actual name. To change an existing FPN’s name you need to first delete it, then add a new FPN with the desired name.

You can only edit the Latitude and Longitude information on the Edit Field Points page for Field Points that are not a groundwater monitoring well.

An FPN can be deleted, but only if there is no data currently uploaded to that FPN. From the “Edit Field Points / Well Construction” page (available when you are logged onto your account), you can delete any FPN having a small blue “x” to the left of its name. To delete, click on the blue “x”. If the FPN you want to delete does not have a blue “x,” you’ll need to delete all pending submittals that have been uploaded to that FPN. Also, if there are “received” submittals that have been uploaded to that FPN, you’ll need to contact the Lead Regulator and ask them to “deny” the previously “received” submittals. Be sure you have archived copies of the submittals being deleted because you may need them to upload later (after correcting the FPN(s). Once all submittals uploaded to that particular FPN have been deleted and/or denied, the blue ‘x” should appear to the left of the FPN and you’ll be able to delete that FPN. If the FPN version you are changing to isn’t yet on the list of FPNs, you’ll need to add it to the list as a new FPN. You’ll then need to edit the deleted/denied submittal(s) by changing all instances referencing the now deleted FPN to the FPN you want to use. Then re-upload the submittal(s).

You can add new FPNs to your existing list of FPNs by either uploading a new FPN text file containing only the new FPNs (the new FPN(s) will be added to the existing list) or you can add new FPNs interactively online from the “Edit Field Points / Well Construction” page.

5.7 What is the maximum number of characters for a FPN?

It is highly recommended that you limit all of your FPNs to 10 or less characters to provide flexibility in your choice of laboratories. Although comma-quote delimited EDFs and delimited non-EDF data submittals will accept FPNs up to 15 characters long, many labs create their EDF text files in “fixed length” format, which is limited to 10 characters maximum for FPNs. The reason for this limitation is that the “fixed length” EDF format still uses the original EDF format’s FPN field length of 10 characters. If a lab enters an FPN having more than 10 characters and saves it in fixed length format, it will be truncated to 10 characters. This will result in “Field Point Name (LOCID): is invalid” error messages when you try to upload your EDF since the truncated FPNs won’t match the FPNs listed on the FPN list.

5.8 What is a “ZIP” file?

A “ZIP” (a.k.a. “ZIPPED”) file is a file having file extension of “.zip” that has been compressed so it takes up less disk storage space. Because it is smaller in size from the original file, it takes less time to upload and download on the Internet. When a file is unzipped later (i.e. uncompressed or “extracted”), it is identical to the original.

Microsoft Windows has built-in capability to zip (compress) and unzip (uncompress). Search Windows “Help” for the word “zipped” to find instructions on how to zip/unzip files using your version of Windows’ built-in zip/unzip capability.

A Geotracker “zip” file should only contain one GEO text file or one set of EDF text files at a time. Do not include GEO and EDF files in the same zip file. The name(s) of the text files contained in the zip file must always be the name(s) specified for each type of submittal (e.g. must be “GEO_XY.txt” or “geo_xy.txt” and not “233BranchSt_GEO_XY.txt”).

The zip file itself can be named anything you want, e.g. “233BranchSt_GEO_XY.zip” or “GEOXY_233branch.zip”, “J34456_GEO_XY.zip”, etc.