Instruments

A Shimadzu TOC-L Analyzer measures DOC by high temperature combustion method.

Developed by Shimadzu, the 680 degree C combustion catalytic oxidation method is now used worldwide. One of its most important features is the capacity to efficiently oxidize hard-to-decompose organic compounds, including insoluble and macromolecular organic compounds. The 680 degree C combustion catalytic oxidation method has been adopted for the TOC-L series.

http://www.shimadzu.com/an/toc/lab/toc-l2.html

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) scans a focused electron beam over a surface to create an image. The electrons in the beam interact with the sample, producing various signals that can be used to obtain information about the surface topography and composition.

Sediment traps are specially designed containers deployed in the water column for periods of time to collect particles from the water column falling toward the sea floor. In general a sediment trap has a jar at the bottom to collect the sample and a broad funnel-shaped opening at the top with baffles to keep out very large objects and help prevent the funnel from clogging. This designation is used when the specific type of sediment trap was not specified by the contributing investigator.

Sediment traps are specially designed containers deployed in the water column for periods of time to collect particles from the water column falling toward the sea floor. In general a sediment trap has a jar at the bottom to collect the sample and a broad funnel-shaped opening at the top with baffles to keep out very large objects and help prevent the funnel from clogging. The Indented Rotating Sphere (IRS) Sediment Trap is described in Peterson et al. (Field evaluation of a valved sediment trap. 1993. Limnology and Oceanography, 38, pp. 1741-1761 and Novel techniques for collection of sinking particles in the ocean and determining their settling rates. 2005. Limnology and Oceanography Methods 3, pp. 520-532). The IRS trap consists of four cylindrical modules; a particle interceptor, an IRS valve; a skewed funnel, and an eleven sample carousel (designated IRSC trap). The key to the trap design is the patented IRS valve located between the particle interceptor and particle accumulator portions of the trap. The valve and carousel are regulated by a TattleTale IVA (manufactured by Onset Computer Corp.) microprocessor and custom software. The IRS sediment trap was specifically designed to exclude zooplankton (Trull et al. 2008. Deep-Sea Research II v.55 pp. 1684-1695).

Typically, a 16 inch diameter white/black quadrant disc used to measure water optical clarity

Towed, undulating vehicle usually equipped with a VPR, TAPS, PAR, CTD

The SeapHOx and SeaFET are autonomous sensors originally designed and developed by the Todd Martz Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The SeaFET was designed to measure pH and temperature. The SeapHOx, designed later, combined the SeaFET with additional integrated sensors for dissolved oxygen and conductivity. Refer to Martz et al. 2010 (doi:10.4319/lom.2010.8.172).

The SeapHOx package is now produced by Sea-Bird Scientific and allows for integrated data collection of pH, temperature, salinity, and oxygen. Refer to Sea-Bird for specific model information.

The Seaglider is an autonomous underwater vehicle developed through a collaboration between The Applied Physics Laboratory -University of Washington and the University of Washington School of Oceanography. These small, free-swimming vehicles can gather conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data from the ocean for months at a time and transmit it to shore in near-real time via satellite data telemetry. Seagliders make oceanographic measurements traditionally collected by research vessels or moored instruments. They can survey along a transect, profile at a fixed location, and can be commanded to alter their sampling strategies throughout a mission.

Self-contained self-powered CTD profiler. Measures conductivity, temperature and pressure (Digiquartz sensor) in both profiling (samples at 4 scans/sec) and moored (sample rates of once every 5 seconds to once every 9 hours) mode. Available in plastic or titanium housing with depth ranges of 600m and 7000m respectively. Miniature submersible pump provides water to the conductivity cell. Compared to the previous 19plus, the V2 incorporates an electronics upgrade and additional features, with six differentially amplified A/D input channels, one RS-232 data input channel, and 64 MB FLASH memory.

The Sea Tech Transmissometer can be deployed in either moored or profiling mode to estimate the concentration of suspended or particulate matter in seawater. The transmissometer measures the beam attenuation coefficient in the red spectral band (660 nm) of the laser lightsource over the instrument's path-length (e.g. 20 or 25 cm). This instrument designation is used when specific make and model are not known. The Sea Tech Transmissometer was manufactured by Sea Tech, Inc. (Corvalis, OR, USA).

The Model SD-6000 MINI current meter is a vector averaging field current meter with recording capacity for up to 6,000 measurements of current speed, direction and temperature. The instrument can be programmed to carry out measurements at given intervals from each minute to each 3 hour via PC or by holding a magnet outside marked points on the instrument.Information is communicated to and from SD-6000 via an infra-red emitter/photodiode pair mounted inside the instrument's transparent top cap. An optoconverter (SD-40) which is positioned over the instrument top cap during communication with a PC converts optosignals to standard RS-232. Download of data to a PC takes a maximum 30 seconds after which data can be immediately processed and displayed. SD-6000 can also be used as a remote monitoring instrument supplying data in real time via a cable.

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or scuba diving system is the result of technological developments and innovations that began almost 300 years ago. Scuba diving is the most extensively used system for breathing underwater by recreational divers throughout the world and in various forms is also widely used to perform underwater work for military, scientific, and commercial purposes.

Reference: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/diving/diving.html

The Scanfish is a remotely operated, towed, undulating vehicle system designed for collecting 3D profile data of the water column. It includes a Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) profiler as part of the instrument package. The Scanfish housing has fins to allow it to dive and rise, an altimeter to determine the depth of the unit, a pump that moves water through the system and a data cable that reports data back to the ship as the fish is being towed through the water behind the vessel. The Scanfish can be configured with additional sensors, e.g. fluorometer.

This is a small (30 cm by 2.54 cm diameter) high-accuracy, battery-powered temperature and time logger capable of sampling intervals from 0.5 seconds to 9 hours. Temperature is measured by a pressure-protected (1500m depth) thermistor. Initial accuracy is 0.002C and drift is typically less than 0.002C per year.

A high-accuracy temperature recorder (pressure optional) with internal battery and non-volatile memory for deployment at depths up to 10500 meters. It is intended for moorings or other long-term, fixed-site applications, as well as shorter-term deployments on nets, towed vehicles, or ROVs. Calibration coefficients stored in EEPROM allow the SBE 39 to transmit data in engineering units. Typical drift is less than 0.002C per year. The SBE 39 communicates directly with a computer via a standard RA-232 interface. For more information see http://www.bodc.ac.uk/data/documents/nodb/108627/

The Sea-Bird SBE 43 dissolved oxygen sensor is a redesign of the Clark polarographic membrane type of dissolved oxygen sensors. more information from Sea-Bird Electronics

The SBE-3 is a slow response, frequency output temperature sensor manufactured by Sea-Bird Electronics, Inc. (Bellevue, Washington, USA). It has an initial accuracy of +/- 0.001 degrees Celsius with a stability of +/- 0.002 degrees Celsius per year and measures seawater temperature in the range of -5.0 to +35 degrees Celsius. more information from Sea-Bird Electronics

The SBE 48 is a high-accuracy temperature recorder with non-volatile memory, designed for shipboard determination of sea surface temperature. Installed with magnets just below the water line, the SBE 48's temperature sensor is in contact with the inside of the ship's hull. For more information, see the SBE48 Manual.

The Sea-Bird SBE 3plus water temperature sensor is designed for use on the SBE 9plus CTD system. The sensor operates over the range -5 to +35 °C, a resolution of 0.0003 °C at 24 Hz and an initial accuracy of ± 0.001 °C. The typical sampling rate is 24 Hz, and the sensor has a depth rating of 6800 meters (aluminium housing) or 10500 meters (titanium housing).

The rack-mountable SBE 33 provides power and real-time data acquisition and control for an SBE 32 Carousel Water Sampler that has the SBE 33 interface option installed in its pylon. The SBE 33 is compatible with all Carousel sizes - full size, compact, and sub-compact. When powered and controlled by the SBE 33, the Carousel can be used:

- with an SBE 19, 19plus, 19plus V2, 25, 25plus, or 49 CTD
- without a CTD
- with a Neil Brown Mk III CTD (requires optional interface for both SBE 32 and 33)

The SBE 33 can also provide power and real-time data acquisition and control for the smaller SBE 55 ECO Water Sampler used with an SBE 19, 19plus, 19plus V2, 25, 25plus, or 49 CTD, or no CTD.

See http://www.seabird.com/sbe33-deck-unit for further details.

The Sea-Bird Electronics SBE 26 SEAGAUGE is a wave level and tide recorder with a pressure sensor, accurate clock, precision thermometer and optional SBE 4M conductivity sensor. Pressure data are integrated to give sea level or are burst recorded at rates up to 4 Hz to characterize waves. The standard pressure sensor is a 20 meter (45 psia) Quartzonix, with a temperature-compensated quartz element. Optionally, the SBE 26 can be configured with a Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure sensor with a temperature-compensated quartz element in 13 ranges, from 1 to 6800 meters (15 to 10,000 psia). more information from Sea-Bird Electronics

The Satlantic Micro-Profiler II is a type of profiling radiometer system. The primary optical measurements are downwelling irradiance (Ed) and upwelling radiance (Lu).The Micro-Pro collects measurements in the following wavelengths: 305, 325, 340, 380, 412, 443, 490, 510, 555, 665, and 683. (Note the additional UV channel).

The Submersible Autonomous Moored Instrument (SAMI) measures and logs levels of dissolved chemicals in sea and fresh water. It is a plastic cylinder about 6 inches wide and 2 feet long that is self-powered and capable of hourly measurements for up to one year. All data collected are logged to an internal memory chip to be downloaded later. SAMI sensors usually are placed a few feet underwater on permanent moorings, while others on floating drifters sample the water wherever the wind and currents carry them. The instruments have been used by researchers around the globe in a variety of studies since 1999. Dr. Mike DeGrandpre, University of Montana, developed the SAMI between 1990 and 1993 during his postdoctoral work at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Woods Hole, MA, USA). For additional information, see URL: http://www.sunburstsensors.com/ from the manufacturer, Sunburst Sensors, LLC, 1226 West Broadway, Missoula, MT 59802.

A salinometer is a device designed to measure the salinity, or dissolved salt content, of a solution.

The InterOcean S4 current meter is a basic electromagnetic current meter with two pairs of internal electrodes and a flux-gate compass with an integral data logger. The S4 current meter is designed to directly measure with high precision the true magnitude and direction of current motion using two pairs of titanium electrodes located symmetrically on the equator of the sensor. An internal flux-gate compass provides heading information, used to reference current direction to magnetic North or, for fixed installations, the instrument may be operated in an X-Y orthogonal mode whereby the current vector can be referenced to a landform or structure. For more info, see www.interoceansystems.com/s4main.htm.

Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) are unoccupied, highly maneuverable underwater robots operated by a person aboard a surface vessel. They are linked to the ship by a group of cables that carry electrical signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle. Most are equipped with at least a video camera and lights. Additional equipment is commonly added to expand the vehicle’s capabilities. These may include a still camera, a manipulator or cutting arm, water samplers, and instruments that measure water clarity, light penetration, and temperature.

Low-level beta detectors manufactured by Riso (now Nutech) in Denmark. These instruments accept samples that can be mounted on a 25mm filter holder. These detectors have very low backgrounds, 0.17 counts per minute, and can have counting efficiencies as high as 55%. 

A Ring Net is a generic plankton net, made by attaching a net of any mesh size to a metal ring of any diameter. There are 1 meter, .75 meter, .25 meter and .5 meter nets that are used regularly. The most common zooplankton ring net is 1 meter in diameter and of mesh size .333mm, also known as a 'meter net' (see Meter Net).

A Reeve Net is a conventional ring net with a very large acrylic cylindrical cod-end (30 liters) designed to collect fragile gelatinous animals. The net is lowered to a particular depth and then hauled slowly back to the surface (5-10 m/min). Reeve (1981) also described a double net system with no bridle and flotation at the net mouth that is attached to a roller mechanism that rides on a tow wire.
The roller system is locked in place by a pressure release device. Once below a set pressure, the roller
and nets are released and they float slowly up the wire, gently collecting the zooplankton, without being
influenced by the motion of the vessel and associated vertical wire movements. (from Wiebe and Benfield, 2003)

Vaisala RS80-GPS radiosondes carried aloft by helium balloons measure atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction. The GPS receiver of the GPS-radiosonde measures a shift in Doppler frequencies using a codeless detection and measurement technique. The measured Doppler shifts are a combination of satellite and radiosonde motion and contain the pertinent information for wind speed and
direction computation. Doppler frequency measurements of up to 8 satellites are sent to the ground equipment using a low bandwidth (1200 baud) digital link. New independent GPS Doppler measurements from the GPS-sonde are provided every 0.5 seconds for up to 8 channels with 24-bit resolution. The ground equipment computes the wind
speed and direction using the differential GPS concept. For more information see www.hobeco.net/pdf/RS80_GPS.pdf.

The RaDeCC is an alpha scintillation counter that distinguishes decay events of short-lived radium daughter products based on their contrasting half-lives. This system was pioneered by Giffin et al. (1963) and adapted for radium measurements by Moore and Arnold (1996).

References:
Giffin, C., A. Kaufman, W.S. Broecker (1963). Delayed coincidence counter for the assay of actinon and thoron. J. Geophys. Res., 68, pp. 1749-1757.
Moore, W.S., R. Arnold (1996). Measurement of 223Ra and 224Ra in coastal waters using a delayed coincidence counter. J. Geophys. Res., 101 (1996), pp. 1321-1329.
Charette, Matthew A.; Dulaiova, Henrieta; Gonneea, Meagan E.; Henderson, Paul B.; Moore, Willard S.; Scholten, Jan C.; Pham, M. K. (2012). GEOTRACES radium isotopes interlaboratory comparison experiment. Limnology and Oceanography - Methods, vol 10, pg 451.

The QuikSCAT is a polar orbiting satellite with an 1800 km wide measurement swath on the earth's surface. Generally, this results in twice per day coverage over a given geographic region. This specialized microwave radar measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. Wind retrievals are done on a 25km x 25km spatial scale.

Shipboard radiometer with a PAR spectral response (400-700nm) designed to monitor surface irradiance during underwater light profile measurement. Hemispherical collector measuring 2-pi scalar irradiance.

This is a duplicate entry. Use instead: https://www.bco-dmo.org/instrument/500

Underwater radiometer with a PAR spectral response (400-700nm). Standard configuration had a spherical collector measuring 4-pi scalar irradiance but a flat plate cosine collector was available as an identically-designated option.

A piece of apparatus that consists of an ion source, a mass-to-charge analyser, a detector and a vacuum system and is used to measure mass spectra. The detector is a quadrupole mass-to-charge analyser, which holds the ions in a stable orbit by an electric field generated by four parallel electrodes.

The 'Pump-underway ship intake' system indicates that samples are from the ship's clean water intake pump. This is essentially a surface water sample from a source of uncontaminated near-surface (commonly 3 to 7 m) seawater that can be pumped continuously to shipboard laboratories on research vessels. There is typically a temperature sensor near the intake (known as the hull temperature) to provide measurements that are as close as possible to the ambient water temperature. The flow from the supply is typically directed through continuously logged sensors such as a thermosalinograph and a fluorometer. Water samples are often collected from the underway supply that may also be referred to as the non-toxic supply. Ideally the data contributor has specified the depth in the ship's hull at which the pump is mounted.

A Pump Air Sampler is an instrument that continuously supplies a flow of air either to an analytical instrument, over a sensor, through filters or from which discrete samples may be drawn for subsequent analysis. This instrument designation is used when specific make and model are not known.

A pressure sensor is a device used to measure absolute, differential, or gauge pressures. It is used only when detailed instrument documentation is not available.

measures rain or snow precipitation

The piston corer is a type of bottom sediment sampling device. A long, heavy tube is plunged into the seafloor to extract samples of mud sediment. A piston corer uses a "free fall" of the coring rig to achieve a greater initial force on impact than gravity coring. A sliding piston inside the core barrel reduces inside wall friction with the sediment and helps to evacuate displaced water from the top of the corer. A piston corer is capable of extracting core samples up to 90 feet in length.

A Phytoplankton Net is a generic term for a sampling net having mesh size of 150 microns or less that is used to collect phytoplankton. It is used only when detailed instrument documentation is not available.

The Lambda 35 is a double beam UV/Vis spectrophotometer from Perkin Elmer, packing pre-aligned Tungsten and Deuterium Lamps. It has a wavelength range of 190-1100nm and a variable bandwidth range of 0.5 to 4nm.

This partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) analysis system sampled from the vessel R/V Tangaroa's underway system. The pCO2 was measured by infrared analysis of the carbon dioxide of air continuously equilibrated with pumped seawater. The pCO2 rig was located on a bench in the temperature controlled laboratory off the fish factory, beside the pH systems (continuous and discrete) and the alkalinity system.additional details are available in the SAGE pCO2 Data Report

A PAR sensor measures photosynthetically available (or active) radiation. The sensor measures photon flux density (photons per second per square meter) within the visible wavelength range (typically 400 to 700 nanometers). PAR gives an indication of the total energy available to plants for photosynthesis. This instrument name is used when specific type, make and model are not known.

Otter trawls have large rectangular otter boards which are used to keep the mouth of the trawl net open. Otter boards are made of timber or steel and are positioned in such a way that the hydrodynamic forces, acting on them when the net is towed along the seabed, pushes them outwards and prevents the mouth of the net from closing. The speed that the trawl is towed at depends on the swimming speed of the species which is being targeted and the exact gear that is being used, but for most demersal species, a speed of around 4 knots (7 km/h) is appropriate. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_trawling

An OPC provides quantitative measurements of abundance and sizes of mesozooplankton ranging between approximately 0.25 and 14 mm in Equivalent Spherical Diameter (ESD), and has the capability to integrate measurements from other sensors such as a CTD, fluorometer and Global Positioning System (GPS). It can be deployed on a variety of instruments such as SeaSoar, Aries, Scanfish, MOCNESS, a bongo net or simple towing frame. The data from an OPC are typically transmitted to a data acquisition computer through two conducting wires in a towing cable at real time, but it can also be modified to have an internal memory. Large amounts of data are produced. The procedures employed by OPC users vary from; i) estimating integrated biomass by integrating the OPC size distributions, ii) comparing size distributions between OPC and net samples, and iii) simply isolating a size region in the OPC size distribution which correspond solely to specific taxa, eg. Calanus spp..

from: Zhou, M., Tande, K., 2002. Optical Plankton Counter Workshop. GLOBEC Report 17, University of Tromso, Tromso

The Onset HOBO (model numbers UA-002-64 or UA-001-64) is an in-situ instrument for wet or underwater applications. It supports light intensity, soil temperature, temperature, and water temperature. A two-channel logger with 10-bit resolution can record up to approximately 28,000 combined temperature and light measurements with 64K bytes memory. It has a polypropylene housing case. Uses an optical USB to transmit data. A solar radiation shield is used for measurement in sunlight. Temperature measurement range: -20 deg C to 70 deg C (temperature). Light measurement range: 0 to 320,000 lux. Temperature accuracy: +/- 0.53 deg C from 0 deg C to 50 deg C. Light accuracy: Designed for measurement of relative light levels. Water depth rating: 30 m.

Optical backscatter instrument measuring scattering in water between 140 - 160 deg for a wavelength of 875nm. It has a turbidity range of 0-2000 FTU and a maximum working depth of 500m. This instrument was superseded by the OBS-3+ model in 2005. The D and A Instrument Company and its OBS product line were purchased by Campbell Scientific Inc who now has full responsibility for D and A Instruments.

A Langdon Oyxgen Titrator is an amperometric oxygen titration system developed to measure dissolved oxygen in seawater. The device uses a conventional polarographic electrode in connection with chronoamperometry to overcome many of the problems limiting the performance of oxygen electrodes. Reproducibility is typically better than +/- 0.8 micromolar and essentially drift-free for several weeks. A microcomputer controls all phases of the measuring process: pulse generation, data acquisition, reduction, and storage. Software is used to correct sensor output for temperature dependence and an activity coefficient, a function of temperature and salinity, is computed to correct for salinity. (Langdon, 1984. Deep Sea Research Part A. Oceanographic Research Papers, Volume 31, Issue 11, pp. 1357-1367; Culberson and Huang, 1987. Automated amperometric oxygen titration. Deep Sea Res. 34:875-880).