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Metadata Report for BODC Series Reference Number 93021


Metadata Summary

Data Description

Data Category CTD or STD cast
Instrument Type
NameCategories
Bissett-Bermann 9040 CTD system  CTD; water temperature sensor; salinity sensor
Instrument Mounting research vessel
Originating Country United Kingdom
Originator -
Originating Organization Scottish Marine Biological Association (now Scottish Association for Marine Science)
Processing Status banked
Online delivery of data Download available - Ocean Data View (ODV) format
Project(s) -
 

Data Identifiers

Originator's Identifier C278/082
BODC Series Reference 93021
 

Time Co-ordinates(UT)

Start Time (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm) 1978-02-10 07:02
End Time (yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm) -
Nominal Cycle Interval -
 

Spatial Co-ordinates

Latitude 59.03830 N ( 59° 2.3' N )
Longitude 8.48000 W ( 8° 28.8' W )
Positional Uncertainty Unspecified
Minimum Sensor or Sampling Depth 6.64 m
Maximum Sensor or Sampling Depth 1472.19 m
Minimum Sensor or Sampling Height 27.8 m
Maximum Sensor or Sampling Height 1493.36 m
Sea Floor Depth 1500.0 m
Sea Floor Depth Source -
Sensor or Sampling Distribution Variable common depth - All sensors are grouped effectively at the same depth, but this depth varies significantly during the series
Sensor or Sampling Depth Datum Instantaneous - Depth measured below water line or instantaneous water body surface
Sea Floor Depth Datum Instantaneous - Depth measured below water line or instantaneous water body surface
 

Parameters

BODC CODERankUnitsTitle
PRESPR011DecibarsPressure (spatial coordinate) exerted by the water body by profiling pressure sensor and correction to read zero at sea level
PSALPR011DimensionlessPractical salinity of the water body by conductivity cell and computation using UNESCO 1983 algorithm
TEMPST011Degrees CelsiusTemperature of the water body by CTD or STD

Definition of Rank

  • Rank 1 is a one-dimensional parameter
  • Rank 2 is a two-dimensional parameter
  • Rank 0 is a one-dimensional parameter describing the second dimension of a two-dimensional parameter (e.g. bin depths for moored ADCP data)

Problem Reports

Inspection of the pressure records from this cruise revealed several negative values (by up to 3 dB) at the start of some profiles. Reasonable temperature and salinity values accompanied the negative pressures, which casts some doubt on the accuracy of the pressure calibration. The affected data values have been flagged as suspect.


Data Access Policy

Open Data

These data have no specific confidentiality restrictions for users. However, users must acknowledge data sources as it is not ethical to publish data without proper attribution. Any publication or other output resulting from usage of the data should include an acknowledgment.

If the Information Provider does not provide a specific attribution statement, or if you are using Information from several Information Providers and multiple attributions are not practical in your product or application, you may consider using the following:

"Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0."


Narrative Documents

Bissett-Bermann 9040 Conductivity Temperature and Depth

The basic configuration of the B-B 9040 CTD incorporates pressure, temperature and conductivity sensors which could be logged digitally. This system also made it possible to derive other parameters, such as salinity, depth and sound velocity.

The instrument was versatile and it was possible to attach a dissolved oxygen sensor or to change the CTD housing, allowing it to obtain data from deeper layers in the water column. The accuracy for salinity is ±0.02 ppt , and ±0.02°C for temperature.

This instrument was also known as the Plessey 9040.

RRS Challenger 2/78 CTD Data Documentation

Introduction

Documentation for the CTD data collected on RRS Challenger Cruise 2/78 (February 1978) by the Scottish Marine Biological Association, Oban, Argyll, Scotland, UK, under the direction of D. J. Ellett.

Caution

Inspection of the pressure records from this cruise reveals several negative values (by up to 3db) at the start of some records, (while the temperature and salinity values appear reasonable), thus casting some doubt on the accuracy of the pressure calibration. These data values have been flagged.

Instrumentation

The instrument used was a Bissett Berman 9040 CTD system and the data were logged on a Hewlett Packard 9820 and stored in an integer format. Instrument lowering and raising speeds were between 0.5m/s and 1m/s. An acoustic pinger was placed above the CTD to give an accurate depth measurement, this could then be used to check the CTD pressure calibration. An NIO bottle with reversing thermometers was placed above the pinger, within 2m of the CTD system. A bottle sample was taken at the bottom of the cast providing the temperature and salinity are uniform at that point. If large temperature or salinity gradients were present then the bottle sample was triggered at a suitable site on the upcast. A surface salinity sample was also taken at the start of the dip.

Calibration

The CTD was not calibrated in the laboratory. The manufacturer's calibration was used and water samples taken to check the calibration and apply corrections where necessary.

Temperature

The manufacturer's calibration was used to convert the raw data to physical units using the equation below:

Temperature (°C) = (10 6 /Pt -2238.68/55.84)
where Pt is the temperature period in microseconds

These values were then plotted against the water bottle (i.e. reversing thermometer) temperatures and a regression line fitted to the data such that:

Temperature(WB) = m x Temperature(CTD) + c

Then the regression coefficients (m and c) were applied to correct the CTD temperature data - these are given in the table below.

Conductivity

The manufacturer's calibration was used to convert the raw data to physical units using the equation below:

Conductivity (mmho/cm) = (106 /Pc - 4995)/58.12 + 10
where Pc is the conductivity period in microseconds

The water bottle salinities and corrected CTD temperatures were used to calculate the water bottle conductivity values. These values were then plotted against the CTD conductivities and a regression line fitted to the data such that:

Conductivity(WB) = m x Conductivity(CTD) + c

Then the regression coefficients were applied to correct the CTD conductivity data - these are given in the table below.

Pressure

The depths from the acoustic pinger were noted where the bottle samples were taken and then used to check the calibration of the pressure sensor - unless calibration values were available from the reversing thermometers. The equation below was used to convert the pressure period to physical units.

Pressure = (106 /Pd - 9712)/0.26267
where Pd is the pressure period in microseconds

A regression fit was carried out using the calibration values and the slope and intercept determined. The pressure values could then be corrected using:

Pressure (CORR) = m x Pressure(CTD) + c

The fit of the CTD data to the water bottle calibration data is given in the table below:

Variable Slope (m) Intercept (c) Standard
Deviation
Temperature (°C) 1.0018 0.0258 0.007
Conductivity (mmho/cm) 0.9950 0.1744 0.010
Pressure (dbar) 1.0059 -5.6981 1.362

Data processing

Obvious wild points were edited out of the calibration file and the calibration programs run to obtain values for the slopes and intercepts for temperature, pressure and conductivity. These were then applied to the uncalibrated data. Conductivities were converted to conductivity ratios and then converted to salinities using UNESCO recommended routines and sigma-t was calculated. The data values were then sieved to ensure a minimum separation between pressure values of 1 dbar. The data were then visually inspected and major spikes flagged.

References

Sharples, F. (1987).
A new data bank of SMBA STD/CTD observations in the Rockall Trough 1975-84. SMBA Marine Physics Group Report No. 36.

Graham, J.M., Sharples, F., Meldrum, D.T. and Edwards, A. (1987).
STD observations in the Rockall Trough 1975-77. SMBA Marine Physics Group Report No. 39.

Fofonoff, N.P. and Millard Jr., R.C. (1983).
Algorithms for the computation of fundamental properties of sea water. UNESCO Technical Paper on Marine Science 44.


Project Information


No Project Information held for the Series

Data Activity or Cruise Information

Cruise

Cruise Name CH2/78
Departure Date 1978-01-30
Arrival Date 1978-02-13
Principal Scientist(s)David J Ellett (Scottish Marine Biological Association)
Ship RRS Challenger

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:

Flag Description
Blank Unqualified
< Below detection limit
> In excess of quoted value
A Taxonomic flag for affinis (aff.)
B Beginning of CTD Down/Up Cast
C Taxonomic flag for confer (cf.)
D Thermometric depth
E End of CTD Down/Up Cast
G Non-taxonomic biological characteristic uncertainty
H Extrapolated value
I Taxonomic flag for single species (sp.)
K Improbable value - unknown quality control source
L Improbable value - originator's quality control
M Improbable value - BODC quality control
N Null value
O Improbable value - user quality control
P Trace/calm
Q Indeterminate
R Replacement value
S Estimated value
T Interpolated value
U Uncalibrated
W Control value
X Excessive difference

SeaDataNet Quality Control Flags

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

Flag Description
0 no quality control
1 good value
2 probably good value
3 probably bad value
4 bad value
5 changed value
6 value below detection
7 value in excess
8 interpolated value
9 missing value
A value phenomenon uncertain
B nominal value
Q value below limit of quantification