Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 1763436

• 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

Temperature and Pressure

Temperature and Pressure data from these series are considered suspect and in some cases because they were so extreme have been converted to the absent data value in the file by BODC. All derived parameters have been removed from these files.

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

Sea-Bird Dissolved Oxygen Sensor SBE 43 and SBE 43F

The SBE 43 is a dissolved oxygen sensor designed for marine applications. It incorporates a high-performance Clark polarographic membrane with a pump that continuously plumbs water through it, preventing algal growth and the development of anoxic conditions when the sensor is taking measurements.

Two configurations are available: SBE 43 produces a voltage output and can be incorporated with any Sea-Bird CTD that accepts input from a 0-5 volt auxiliary sensor, while the SBE 43F produces a frequency output and can be integrated with an SBE 52-MP (Moored Profiler CTD) or used for OEM applications. The specifications below are common to both.

Specifications

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

Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 911 and SBE 917 series CTD profilers

The SBE 911 and SBE 917 series of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) units are used to collect hydrographic profiles, including temperature, conductivity and pressure as standard. Each profiler consists of an underwater unit and deck unit or SEARAM. Auxiliary sensors, such as fluorometers, dissolved oxygen sensors and transmissometers, and carousel water samplers are commonly added to the underwater unit.

Underwater unit

The CTD underwater unit (SBE 9 or SBE 9 plus) comprises a protective cage (usually with a carousel water sampler), including a main pressure housing containing power supplies, acquisition electronics, telemetry circuitry, and a suite of modular sensors. The original SBE 9 incorporated Sea-Bird's standard modular SBE 3 temperature sensor and SBE 4 conductivity sensor, and a Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure sensor. The conductivity cell was connected to a pump-fed plastic tubing circuit that could include auxiliary sensors. Each SBE 9 unit was custom built to individual specification. The SBE 9 was replaced in 1997 by an off-the-shelf version, termed the SBE 9 plus, that incorporated the SBE 3 plus (or SBE 3P) temperature sensor, SBE 4C conductivity sensor and a Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure sensor. Sensors could be connected to a pump-fed plastic tubing circuit or stand-alone.

Temperature, conductivity and pressure sensors

The conductivity, temperature, and pressure sensors supplied with Sea-Bird CTD systems have outputs in the form of variable frequencies, which are measured using high-speed parallel counters. The resulting count totals are converted to numeric representations of the original frequencies, which bear a direct relationship to temperature, conductivity or pressure. Sampling frequencies for these sensors are typically set at 24 Hz.

The temperature sensing element is a glass-coated thermistor bead, pressure-protected inside a stainless steel tube, while the conductivity sensing element is a cylindrical, flow-through, borosilicate glass cell with three internal platinum electrodes. Thermistor resistance or conductivity cell resistance, respectively, is the controlling element in an optimized Wien Bridge oscillator circuit, which produces a frequency output that can be converted to a temperature or conductivity reading. These sensors are available with depth ratings of 6800 m (aluminium housing) or 10500 m (titanium housing). The Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure sensor comprises a quartz crystal resonator that responds to pressure-induced stress, and temperature is measured for thermal compensation of the calculated pressure.

Additional sensors

Optional sensors for dissolved oxygen, pH, light transmission, fluorescence and others do not require the very high levels of resolution needed in the primary CTD channels, nor do these sensors generally offer variable frequency outputs. Accordingly, signals from the auxiliary sensors are acquired using a conventional voltage-input multiplexed A/D converter (optional). Some Sea-Bird CTDs use a strain gauge pressure sensor (Senso-Metrics) in which case their pressure output data is in the same form as that from the auxiliary sensors as described above.

Deck unit or SEARAM

Each underwater unit is connected to a power supply and data logging system: the SBE 11 (or SBE 11 plus) deck unit allows real-time interfacing between the deck and the underwater unit via a conductive wire, while the submersible SBE 17 (or SBE 17 plus) SEARAM plugs directly into the underwater unit and data are downloaded on recovery of the CTD. The combination of SBE 9 and SBE 17 or SBE 11 are termed SBE 917 or SBE 911, respectively, while the combinations of SBE 9 plus and SBE 17 plus or SBE 11 plus are termed SBE 917 plus or SBE 911 plus.

Specifications

Specifications for the SBE 9 plus underwater unit are listed below:

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

WETLabs C-Star transmissometer

This instrument is designed to measure beam transmittance by submersion or with an optional flow tube for pumped applications. It can be used in profiles, moorings or as part of an underway system.

Two models are available, a 25 cm pathlength, which can be built in aluminum or co-polymer, and a 10 cm pathlength with a plastic housing. Both have an analog output, but a digital model is also available.

This instrument has been updated to provide a high resolution RS232 data output, while maintaining the same design and characteristics.

Specifications

Further details are available in the manufacturer's specification sheet or user guide.

BODC Processing - Autosub data

Data were received by BODC in Matlab files, with one file containing all data from the Autosub missions. The data were reformatted to QXF (a NetCDF file format) by in house software. A separate QXF file was created for data from each data type from each mission. Metadata were also extracted from the originator's file and used to populate the BODC database.

The following tables shows how the variables within the files were mapped to appropriate BODC parameter codes for each of the data types supplied:

CTD data

Ice draft data

Seabed depth data

Quality control

Following transfer to QXF, the data were quality controlled using BODC's in-house visualisation software.

Originator's processing - iSTAR Autosub data

Data collection

Five Autosub missions were completed during iSTAR cruise RRS James Clark Ross JR20140126 in the Amundsen Sea. The data were collected for the Ocean2ice (iSTAR A) project which is part of the Natural Environment Research Council funded iSTAR programme.

Instruments attached to the Autosub included:

• a Seabird CTD, with dual conductivity and temperature sensors and additional dissolved oxygen sensor and transmissometer
• a Simrad mliti-beam echosounder, configurable as upward- or downward-looking
• an upward-looking RDI 300 kHz ADCP
• a downward-looking RDI 150 kHz ADCP
• aEdgetech 2200M sub-bottom profiler and
• a Rockland MicroRider microstructure sensor module

For more information about the Autosub missions and data collection see the cruise report

Data processing

The data collected was processed by the originator and the CTD data plus geometry data (ice draft and sea bed depth) from the ADCP ranges were supplied to BODC.</

For information about the Autosub data processing see the cruise report

Project Information

Ocean under ice: Ocean circulation and melting beneath the ice shelves of the south-eastern Amundsen Sea (iSTAR B)

Background and objectives

Ocean under ice (otherwise referred to as iSTAR B) is a project that is part of NERC's Ice Sheet Stability programme. The West Antarctic ice sheet has been observed to be changing faster than scientists had expected. There is a significant flow of ice from the Pine Island Glacier in to the sea at Pine Island Bay. The project aims to understand the rate of melting of ice in to the ocean and the relationship between this and the properties of the sea water around and beneath the glacier. It will also try to determine what the impact of even small amounts of warming of the sea water would have on the rate of ice lost. This is a challenging project because the glacier ice is between 300 and 1000 m thick and access to its base is difficult. This project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Participants

The principal investigator for the Ocean under ice project is Adrian Jenkins, British Antarctic Survey. Other participants in the project represent the following organisations:

• British Antarctic Survey
• University College London
• University of Washington

Fieldwork and data collection

The project used cutting edge technology to measure the conditions at the edge of the glacier as well as the properties of the glacier itself. The ocean conditions were be measured by an Autosub (a submarine robot which carries sensors to measure water properties) under the ice in Pine Island Bay. To complement these measurements a radar was used to measure the changing thickness of the ice in the glacier and the position of the base of the glacier over an extended period of time (autonomous technology enables year-round operation). These data will be fed in to a computer model to explore how heat transported in to the area by the ocean water affects the ice shelf.

Data management

All data collected by the Ocean under ice project will be submitted to the British Oceanographic Data Centre (Autosub) or Polar Data Centre (Radar) for careful storage, quality control, archiving and distribution to scientists, education, industry and the public.

For more information about Ocean2ice see the iSTAR B project page

The Ice Sheet Stability (iSTAR) programme

Background and objectives

The iSTAR programme aims to measure the rate that ice is being lost from the West Antarctic ice sheet, and to improve our understanding of what might be driving this loss how it is changing over time. The rate of loss of water from ice in glaciers in the Antarctic (and Greenland) is more than the amount of water being deposited in these areas by precipitation. This has changed our understanding of these systems and the rate of ice loss is a matter of interest for sea level and climate research. Improving our understanding of the processes and impacts of changes to these systems is vital for better predictions for sea level rise in the future and will feed in to climate research. This programme combines scientific research of glaciers and the surrounding ocean environment (including how they impact each other). Research about the oceans was focused on the Amundsen Sea Sector of West Antarctica with instruments deployed from the research ship RRS James Clark Ross. Research about the ice was focused on Pine Island Glacier, Thwaites Glacier and Union Glacier with measurements taken during two expeditions across the ice. This programme was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)

The programme is split in to four projects:

Ocean2ice: Processes and variability of ocean heat transport toward ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea Embayment (iSTAR A)

Ocean under ice: Ocean circulation and melting beneath the ice shelves of the south-eastern Amundsen Sea (iSTAR B)

Dynamic ice: Dynamical control on the response of Pine Island Glacier (iSTAR C)

Ice loss: The contribution to sea-level rise of the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica (iSTAR D)

Participants

The iSTAR research programme is managed by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) on behalf of NERC. Operational support, in the form of logistics planning and infrastructure, and Communication and Knowledge Exchange support are provided by BAS. There are four science projects and participants in these projects represent the following organisations:

• British Antarctic Survey
• National Oceanography Centre
• Newcastle University
• Scott Polar Research Institute
• University College London
• University of Bristol
• University of East Anglia
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Leeds
• University of Southampton
• University of St. Andrews
• University of Tasmania
• University of Washington

Fieldwork and data collection

A wide range of data parameters were collected for this programme. Physical and chemical measurements of the ocean close to and next to the ice shelf were made using instruments deployed from ship, on moorings, on autonomous platforms and seal tags. Measurements were also made of the glaciers and ice shelfs including radar and seismic surveys and ice cores. There were also meteorological and atmospheric measurements taken. For more information about the data collected on each of the four projects see the project web pages.

Data management

Data management for ocean data will be done by the British Oceanographic Data Centre whilst ice data will be managed by the Polar Data Centre.

For more information about iSTAR programme see the: iSTAR Programme Website

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: