Underway sensors: Enhanced measurements from Ships of Opportunity (SOOP): RV Cape Ferguson

Brief description

These data sets are derived from sensors installed on the Australian Institute of Marine Science RV Cape Ferguson to record along-track (underway) measurements of near-surface water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence and turbidity during scientific operations in the tropical waters of northern Australia. All data records include sampling time (UTC), position (latitude and longitude) and water depth (under keel). The RV Cape Ferguson is operated as a platform under the sub-facility Sensors on Tropical Research Vessels of the IMOS Facility Ships of Opportunity (SOOP) (http://imos.org.au/facilities/shipsofopportunity). This is the parent record for Underway data from the RV Cape Ferguson.

Lineage

Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: Statement: The Seabird SBE 21 thermosalinograph is connected to an AC powered NMEA Interface box which appends NMEA information to the SBE 21 data stream. Location of the ship is recorded using a standard GPS (Global Positioning System). The accuracy of measurements of latitude, longitude are within 4-10m using WGS-84, and a standard 2D depth sounder measures bathymetric depth under the hull. A real time clock in the SBE 21 is manually set and is supported by an internal lithium back-up battery when the power supply is off. SBE 21 records the output of a remote 'secondary' temperature sensor (SBE 38) at the seawater intake in the sea chest, allowing for the measurement of sea surface temperature with minimum thermal contamination from the ship's hull. The 'primary' temperature is recorded in the SBE 21 deck unit. SBE 21 supports auxiliary A/D sensors; the WET Labs FLNTU-RT, which measures chlorophyll-a fluorescence and turbidity. This output is included in the SBE 21 data stream. The SBE 21 cleaning procedures are as per Section 7 of http://www.seabird.com/pdf_documents/manuals/21_026.pdf and http://www.seabird.com/application_notes/AN02d.htm. Additionally the optical face of the FLNTU-RT is manually cleaned daily when possible, and periodic freshwater flushing of the deck unit occurs during cruises. SBE 21 AF24173 Anti-Foulant Devices are also installed. Statement: Seabird SBE 21 thermosalinograph output format is raw hexadecimal data at either 5 or 10 second time intervals. The SBE Data Processing program is used to convert data from conductivity, remote 'secondary' temperature and auxiliary sensors, as well as GPS location, bathymetric depth and time into ASCII format. It also calculates the derived variable salinity, using data from the 'primary' SBE 21 temperature sensor. The program accesses a configuration file containing factory calibration variables for each sensor. Calibrated data are imported into a central database. An automated quality control process is applied to the data and each data point is flagged accordingly. A history of the data quality control rules applied to the data is available for each data point.

Notes

Credit
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS)

Credit
Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent.

Credit
Benthuysen, Jessica, Dr