Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1044351

• Metadata Summary

• Problem Reports

• Data Access Policy

• Narrative Documents

• Project Information

• Data Activity or Cruise Information

• Fixed Station Information

• BODC Quality Flags

• SeaDataNet Quality Flags

Metadata Summary

Problem Reports

No Problem Report Found in the Database

RAPID Cruise D298 Underway Meteorology Data Quality Report

Wind

There are many occasions where ship's motion is influencing wind direction post-correction. Where obvious, these have been flagged as suspect. However, there are periods where the number of points affected is too great or the data are generally noisy, making it difficult to flag individual erroneous points.

Data Access Policy

Open Data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

You must always use the following attribution statement to acknowledge the source of the information: "Contains data supplied by Natural Environment Research Council."

Narrative Documents

Kipp and Zonen Pyranometer Model CM6B

The CM6B pyranometer is intended for routine global solar radiation measurement research on a level surface. The CM6B features a sixty-four thermocouple junction (series connected) sensing element. The sensing element is coated with a highly stable carbon based non-organic coating, which delivers excellent spectral absorption and long term stability characteristics. The sensing element is housed under two concentric fitting Schott K5 glass domes.

Specifications

Skye Instruments PAR Energy Sensor Model SKE 510

The SKE 510 is suitable for measuring photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) from natural or artificial light sources. The sensor is fully waterproof and guaranteed submersible to 4m depth, and indoor versions are also available.

The instrument uses a blue-enhanced planar diffused silicon detector to measure energy (in W m^-2) over the 400-700 nm waveband. It has a cosine-corrected head and a square spectral response. The sensor can operate over a temperature range of -35 to 70 °C and a humidity range of 0-100% RH.

Specifications

Vaisala Analog Barometers Models PTB100 (A), (B) and PTB101 (B), (C)

The PTB 100 series analog barometers are designed both for accurate barometric measurements at room temperature and for general environmental pressure monitoring over a wide temperature range. The long-term stability of the barometer minimizes the need for field adjustment in many applications.

Physical Specifications

The barometers use the BAROCAP^* silicon capacitive absolute pressure sensor developed by Vaisala for barometric pressure measurements. The BAROCAP^* sensor combines the elasticity characteristics and mechanical stability of a single-crystal silicon with the proven capacitive detection principle.

Sensor Specifications

^* BAROCAP is a registered trademark of Vaisala

Vaisala Temperature and Relative Humidity HMP Sensors

A family of sensors and instruments (sensors plus integral displays or loggers) for the measurement of air temperature and relative humidity. All are based on a probe containing a patent (HUMICAP) capacitive thin polymer film capacitanece humidity sensor and a Pt100 platinum resistance thermometer. The probes are available with a wide range of packaging, cabling and interface options all of which have designations of the form HMPnn or HMPnnn such as HMP45 and HMP230. Vaisala sensors are incorporated into weather stations and marketed by Campbell Scientific.

All versions operate at up to 100% humidity. Operating temperature ranges vary between models, allowing users to select the version best suited to their requirements.

Further details can be found in the manufacturer's specification sheets for the HMP 45 series, HMP 70 series and HMP 230 series.

Vaisala WA15 Wind Set

The WAA151 combines a WAA151 anemometer and a WAV151 wind vane, to measure wind speed and direction.

WAA151 Anemometer

The anemometer has three lightweight conical cups in the cup wheel. A wind-rotated chopper disc, attached to the cup wheel's shaft, cuts an infrared light beam 14 times per revolution, generating a pulse output from a phototransistor. The output rate can be regarded as directly proportional to the wind speed. However, for the best accuracy, a transfer function is used to compensate starting inertia and slight over-speeding:

U_f = 0.328 + 0.101 x R, where U_f = wind speed and R = output pulse rate

A thermostatically controlled heating element in the shaft tunnel prevents the bearings from freezing in cold environments.

WAV151 Wind Vane

The WAV151 is a counter-balanced optelectronic wind vane. Infrared LEDs and phototransistors are mounted in six orbits around a 6 bit Gray coded disc. Turned by the vane, the disc determines the code received by the phototransistors.

Specifications

Further details can be found in the manufacturer's specification document.

RAPID Cruise D298 Underway Meteorology Instrumentation

Air temperature, humidity, air pressure, PAR, TIR and wind velocity were measured using a thermistor, hygrometer, barometer and propeller anemometer located on the foremast approximately 20 metres above the sea surface. The details of these sensors are shown in the table below.

RAPID Cruise D298 Underway Meteorology Processing

Originator's processing

Data were transferred from the raw RVS format to PSTAR format using unix command scripts, compiled into 2 minute averages and corrections to the wind speed and direction were applied to remove the effects of ship movement.

BODC processing

The 2 minute averaged navigational and bathymetric data, were transferred from PSTAR format into BODC internal format (a subset of netCDF) to allow use of the in-house visualisation tool (EDSERPLO). Reformatting and data calibration was carried out, and is discussed in the individual parameter sections below. Each data channel was visually inspected and any spikes or periods of dubious data flagged as suspect. The capabilities of the screening software allows all possible comparative screening checks between channels.

Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)

Data were converted from raw voltages to Watts per square meter using manufacturer's calibrations and starboard and port sensor data were merged.

Solar Radiation (TIR)

Data were converted from raw voltages to Watts per square meter using manufacturer's calibrations and starboard and port sensor data were merged.

RAPID Cruise D298 Underway Meteorology, Surface Hydrography and Navigation Series

Cruise Details

D298 was conducted in the vicinty of Cape Farewell, southern Greenland, during early autumn 2005. The main priority of the cruise was to complete a number of mooring operations, but this work was combined with additional hydrographic survey work, sediment coring and sub-bottom profiling.

Data Processing Procedures

Underway sea surface hydrography, meteorology and ship's navigation data are merged into common files using time (UTC) as the primary linking key. Any additional data calibrations are applied as appropriate and are discussed in the individual instrument sections.

Data were transferred to BODC's in-house NetCDF format, QXF, through the BODC Underway Data System (BUDS). During transfer data were time averaged to 120 second intervals. The transfer process also includes the flagging of data which fall outside of the range of acceptable values for each parameter.

Each data channel is visually inspected on a graphics workstation and any spikes or periods of dubious data are flagged as suspect. The capabilities of the workstation screening software allows all possible comparative screening checks between channels. The system also has the facililty of simultaneously displaying the data and the ship's position on a map to enable data screening to take oceanographic climatology into account.

Project Information

Rapid Climate Change (RAPID) Programme

Rapid Climate Change (RAPID) is a £20 million, six-year (2001-2007) programme of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The programme aims to improve our ability to quantify the probability and magnitude of future rapid change in climate, with a main (but not exclusive) focus on the role of the Atlantic Ocean's Thermohaline Circulation.

Scientific Objectives

• To establish a pre-operational prototype system to continuously observe the strength and structure of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC).
• To support long-term direct observations of water, heat, salt, and ice transports at critical locations in the northern North Atlantic, to quantify the atmospheric and other (e.g. river run-off, ice sheet discharge) forcing of these transports, and to perform process studies of ocean mixing at northern high latitudes.
• To construct well-calibrated and time-resolved palaeo data records of past climate change, including error estimates, with a particular emphasis on the quantification of the timing and magnitude of rapid change at annual to centennial time-scales.
• To develop and use high-resolution physical models to synthesise observational data.
• To apply a hierarchy of modelling approaches to understand the processes that connect changes in ocean convection and its atmospheric forcing to the large-scale transports relevant to the modulation of climate.
• To understand, using model experimentation and data (palaeo and present day), the atmosphere's response to large changes in Atlantic northward heat transport, in particular changes in storm tracks, storm frequency, storm strengths, and energy and moisture transports.
• To use both instrumental and palaeo data for the quantitative testing of models' abilities to reproduce climate variability and rapid changes on annual to centennial time-scales. To explore the extent to which these data can provide direct information about the thermohaline circulation (THC) and other possible rapid changes in the climate system and their impact.
• To quantify the probability and magnitude of potential future rapid climate change, and the uncertainties in these estimates.

Projects

Overall 38 projects have been funded by the RAPID programme. These include 4 which focus on Monitoring the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), and 5 international projects jointly funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, the Research Council of Norway and NERC.

The RAPID effort to design a system to continuously monitor the strength and structure of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is being matched by comparative funding from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) for collaborative projects reviewed jointly with the NERC proposals. Three projects were funded by NSF.

A proportion of RAPID funding as been made available for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) as part of NERC's Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). The SBRI aims to stimulate innovation in the economy by encouraging more high-tech small firms to start up or to develop new research capacities. As a result 4 projects have been funded.

RAPID - Cape Farewell and Eirik Ridge: Interannual to Millennial Thermohaline Circulation Variability

This project was funded under the NERC Rapid Climate Change Programme, grant number NER/T/S/2002/00453. Dr. Sheldon Bacon (Southampton Oceanography Centre) was the Principal Investigator, with co-Investigators from the University of Southampton, Prof. D. A. Stow and Dr. E. J. Rohling. The project started in December 2003 and ended in November 2008.

The project used a combination of hydrography and palaeoceanography measurements to determine the spectrum of variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current, on timescales from days to millennia. The project focused on deglacial to Holocene variability; in particular, seeking to characterise the onset and endings of three cold periods: the Younger Dryas (YD; 12.5-11.5 ka BP), the ~8.2 ka event, and the Little Ice Age (LIA; 16th-19th century AD).

The objectives of the project included:

• Defining the THC response to Holocene climate variability by a highly resolved investigation of palaeoceanographic/climate proxies in sediment cores
• Developing high-resolution sediment proxies for bottom current speed
• Absolute calibration of sediment proxies for bottom current speed
• Defining the relationship between drift construction and the bottom current regime
• Improved definition of present-day ocean circulation and climate

Most of the fieldwork was carried out on 2 cruises in the Cape Farewell and Irminger Sea vicinity:

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Cruise

Complete Cruise Metadata Report is available here

Fixed Station Information

No Fixed Station Information held for the Series

BODC Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle:

SeaDataNet Quality Control Flags

The following single character qualifying flags may be associated with one or more individual parameters with a data cycle: