Instruments

The Pacer gas-powered centrifugal pump is a water pumping system for zooplankton sampling.

The YSI Professional Plus handheld multiparameter meter provides for the measurement of a variety of combinations for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, specific conductance, salinity, resistivity, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, ORP, pH/ORP combination, ammonium (ammonia), nitrate, chloride and temperature. More information from the manufacturer.

An Expendable Sound Velocimeter (XSV) system consists of an expendable probe, a data processing/recording system, and a launcher and is used to obtain sound velocity profiles. more from Sippican at URL: http://www.sippican.com/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/312

Instruments that identify crystalline solids by measuring the characteristic spaces between layers of atoms or molecules in a crystal.

The ship-mounted Vaisala Weather Transmitter WXT520 measures: Wind speed and direction; Liquid precipitation: rainfall, duration, intensity; Barometric pressure; Air temperature and Relative humidity. (for more information see http://www.vaisala.com/en/products/multiweathersensors/Pages/WXT520.aspx)

The WP-2 net is a variety of Ring Net for zooplankton but which is capable of being closed by means of a Nansen bottle-type release messenger weighing 0.8 kg and which can be equipped with a digital flow meter for determining the amount of water passing through the plankton net. The rings may have a variety of sizes (57cm, 70cm, 75 cm, or 1m internal diameter) and the nets which make up this device are in two parts, a cylindrical upper part and a conical lower part. The closing ring is between the two net segments. (more at KC Denmark)

Description from Roman et al. (2019):
The Wire Flyer towed vehicle is a platform able to collect high-resolution water column sections. The vehicle is motivated by a desire to effectively capture spatial structures at the submesoscale. The Wire Flyer profiles up and down along a ship-towed cable autonomously using controllable wings for propulsion. At ship speeds between 2 and 5 kt (1.02–2.55 m s−1), the vehicle is able to profile over prescribed depth bands down to 1000 m. The vehicle carries sensors for conductivity, temperature, depth, oxygen, turbidity, chlorophyll, pH, and oxidation reduction potential. During normal operations, the vehicle is typically commanded to cover vertical regions between 300 and 400 m in height with profiles that repeat at kilometer spacing. The vertical profiling speed can be user-specified up to 150 m min−1. During operations, an acoustic modem is used to communicate with the vehicle to provide status information, data samples, and the ability to modify the sampling pattern.  

Detailed information can be found in the following publication:
Roman, C., Ullman, D. S., Hebert, D., & Licht, S. (2019). The Wire Flyer Towed Profiling System. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 36(2), 161–182. doi:10.1175/jtech-d-17-0180.1

The WETStar CDOM fluorometer measuring fluorescence as a proxy for dissolved matter absorption.

A dual-optical-sensor that carries a single-wavelength chlorophyll fluorometer (470nm ex/695nm em) and backscattering sensor (700 nm) that measures phytoplankton and particle concentration. It operates by using blue (470nm) and red (700 nm) LEDs that alternately flash. The blue LED stimulates chlorophyll fluorescence in plants while the red light illuminates the total particle field. The backscattering sensor has an in-water centroid angle of 142 degrees and can be calibrated to measure turbidity. The fluorometer can typically measure phytoplankton concentrations in the range 0-30 ug/l, with a sensitivity of 0.015 ug/l. The backscattering sensor can measure within the range 0-3 m-1, with a sensitivity of 0.0015 m-1. The instrument output in the standard version is digital and uses a low power mode and stores data. Other variants are used. The instrument is rated to a depth of 600m as standard, with the options of deeper instruments rated up to 6000m and instruments with bio-wipers, rated to 300 m.

This instrument comes in the following optional models: FLbb(RT), FLbb(RT)D, FLbbB, FLbbS, FLbbBS, FLbb2k. Refer to the datasheet from the manufacturer: https://www.seabird.com/asset-get.download.jsa?id=55460873804

General term for an instrument that measures the temperature of the water with which it is in contact (thermometer).

The Video Plankton Recorder (VPR) is a video-microscope system used for imaging plankton and other particulate matter in the size range from a few micrometers to several centimeters. The VPR is essentially an underwater microscope. It consists of four video cameras (with magnifying optics) synchronized at 60 fields per second (fps) to a red-filtered 80 W xenon strobe (pulse duration = 1 microsecond). The current lens on each camera can be adjusted to provide a field of view between 5 mm and 10 cm. Use of higher magnification lenses is currently being explored for viewing protozoans (less than 1 micrometer resolution). The four cameras are set for concentric viewing fields so that a range of up to four magnifications can be viewed simultaneously, allowing a wide size range of plankton to be sampled. Depth of field is adjusted by the lens aperture setting, and the volume sampled in each video field ranges from about 1 ml to 1 liter, depending on lens settings. The cameras have been configured for stereoscopic viewing as well.A strobe on the other arm illuminates the imaged volume and flashes 60 times per second, producing 60 images per second of the particles and plankton in the water. The images are then saved internally on a computer hard disk and later plotted.

Deployment: Most commonly, the VPR is mounted in a frame and lowered into the water from the stern of the ship. Sometimes, a CTD also is mounted next to the VPR to collect depth, temperature, and salinity information at the same time as each video image. The instrument is lowered down through the water to a maximum depth of 350 meters to generate a profile of plankton/particle abundance and taxon group along with temperature and salinity. In addition to the towed configuration for mapping plankton distributions, it is possible to deploy the VPR in a fixed position (on a mooring) for viewing plankton swimming behaviors in two or three dimensions. The VPR instrument system has been used in both configurations, and deployment on ROVs has been proposed.

This definition was taken from the WHOI Ocean Instruments Web site and from a US GLOBEC Newsletter.

The Vertical Multiple Plankton Sampler (VMPS), a variation of the multiple plankton sampler (MPS), is a specially designed opening-closing, multi-layer net system used for collecting zooplankton (Terazaki and Tomatsu, 1997). The mesh size and mouth opening can vary depending on research focus. The VMPS is towed through depth ranges with nets closed at known intervals to yield estimations of standing stock, vertical distribution and diel vertical migration.

The VMPS as described by Wiebe and Benfield (2003) is named the Ocean Research Institute Vertical Multiple Plankton Sampler (ORI-VMPS) with specifications: 100 cm x 100 cm rectangular mouth opening multiple net system that can be equipped with 4 to 10 nets, 510 cm long with 0.33 mm nylon mesh. Nets are opened/closed by surface commands down
transmitted via conduction cable to an underwater
unit (see Plate 31 C (Wiebe and Benfield, 2003)).

References:

Terazaki, M. and Tomatsu, C. (1997). A vertical multiple opening and closing plankton sampler. Journal of Advanced Marine Science Technological Society, 3, 127-132.



Wiebe, Peter H. and Mark C. Benfield, 2003. From the Hensen net toward four-dimensional biological
oceanography. Progress in Oceanography, 56, pp. 118.

A submersible single-channel acoustic receiver with onboard transmitting capabilities, designed for use in the monitoring of aquatic fauna. It is capable of transmitting its assigned ID code, identifying other Vemco coded transmitters in the receiver area, and acoustically communicating with a surface VR100-200 receiver. It can communicate additional information and make select changes to other Vemco transmitters via the surface VR100-200 receiver. It uses VUE software for communication via Bluetooth. The VR2Tx is housed in a corrosion-resistant cylindrical high-pressure plastic case, depth-rated to 500 m. The VR2Tx has 16 MB of onboard memory storage (approx. 1.6 million detections). The VR2Tx operates on a factory-set frequency of 69 kHz, and has an approximate battery life of 14 months. It can operate in temperatures ranging from -5 degC to +40 degC.

A laboratory instrument used for quantifying organic elements. It can measure C, H, N and S and optionally O, Cl and TIC. It was first developed in 2006 as a successor to the vario EL III. It uses a high-temperature combustion unit that is able to complete sample digestion at up to 1200 deg C (or 1800 deg C at the point of combustion when tin foil is used) and a jet injection of oxygen directly to the sample during combustion. Separation of gas components are performed on up to 3 gas-selective columns which trap gases until they are heated up and the prior gas peak has reached the baseline during detection. It uses a Thermal Conductivity Detector (TCD) as standard. An infrared (IR) detector for sulfur and oxygen and electrochemical detector for chlorine are optionally available. The instrument can measure C / N elemental ratios of up to 12,000:1 and provides an elemental detection limit of < 40 ppm (TCD).

Vector Averaging Current Meter

A description of the UVP instrument can be found in the following publication: Picheral, M., L. Guidi, L. Stemmann, D. M. Karl, G. Iddaoud, and G. Gorsky. 2010. The Underwater Vision Profiler 5: An advanced instrument for high spatial resolution studies of particle size spectra and zooplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. Meth. 8: 462-473. (access the PDF at URL: http://cmore.soest.hawaii.edu/cmoredata/LMO/Guidi/Picheral_2010.pdf)

The Shimadzu UV Spectrophotometer is manufactured by Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (ssi.shimadzu.com). Shimadzu manufacturers several models of spectrophotometer; refer to dataset for make/model information.

The Unisense pH microelectrode is a miniaturized conventional pH electrode. The instrument is designed for research applications. It is based on selective diffusion of protons through pH glass, and the determination of potentials between the internal electrolyte and an internal or external reference electrode. It has a range of tip sizes (10 um-1.1 mm), a measurement range of pH 2-10 (linear 4-9) and detection limit of 0.1 pH unit. See more on the manufacturer's website: https://www.unisense.com/

The Unisense H2S microsensor is a tool for studying H2S production and oxidation in a wide range of applications. The H2S microsensor is a miniaturized amperometric sensor with internal reference and a sensing anode. The anode is polarized against an internal reference. Driven by the external partial pressure, H2S from the environment penetrates through the sensor tip membrane into the electrolyte where the H2S is ultimately oxidized by the anode. This generates a current in the pA range which is measured by a picoammeter. See more on the manufacturer's website: https://www.unisense.com/H2S/

A towed undulating vehicle is a generic class of instruments. See the data set specific information for a detailed description. These are often prototype instrument packages designed to make very specific measurements.

The Turner Designs 10-AU Field Fluorometer is used to measure Chlorophyll fluorescence. The 10AU Fluorometer can be set up for continuous-flow monitoring or discrete sample analyses. A variety of compounds can be measured using application-specific optical filters available from the manufacturer. (read more from Turner Designs, turnerdesigns.com, Sunnyvale, CA, USA)

The Turner Designs Aquafluor 8000 is a lightweight, handheld fluorometer/turbidimeter ideal for field use. It can be configured with one or two channels to measure turbidity, chlorophyll, algae, dyes, ammonium, CDOM, and more. Detailed description at https://www.turnerdesigns.com/aquafluor-handheld-fluorometer

The original Tucker Trawl, a net with a rectangular mouth opening first built in 1951 by G.H. Tucker, was not an opening/closing system, but shortly thereafter it was modified so that it could be opened and closed.  The original had a 183 cm by 183 cm flexible rectangular mouth opening 914 cm long net with 1.8 cm stretched mesh for the first 457 cm and 1.3 cm mesh for last 457 cm. 152 cm of coarse plankton or muslin netting lined the end of the net. Tucker designed the net to collect animals associated with the deep scattering layers, principally euphausiids, siphonophores, and midwater fish. (from Wiebe and Benfield, 2003). Currently used Tucker Trawls usually have 1-m2 openings and can have a single net or multiple nets on the frame.

A thermosalinograph (TSG) is used to obtain a continuous record of sea surface temperature and salinity. On many research vessels the TSG is integrated into the ship's underway seawater sampling system and reported with the underway or alongtrack data.

TriOS ARC Hyperspectral Radiometer Sensor

The PerkinElmer Tri-Carb 3110TR is a benchtop liquid scintillation analyzer for detecting small amounts of alpha, beta, and gamma radioactivity. It features a Multichannel Analyzer with an effective resolution of 1/10 keV and an extended dynamic quench range. Sample capacity is either 408 standard 20 mL vials, or 720 small 4 or 7 mL vials. The instrument includes a barium-133 low-energy external standard source centered under the sample vial which eliminates the effects of volume variations. It has an energy range of 0-2000 keV and an operating ambient temperature range of 15-35 degrees Celsius.

The raised footrope whiting (or hake) trawl is a trawl with a specially designed spiny dogfish excluder grate within the extension of a silver hake (whiting) trawl net.

The traction winch, as it pertains to marine deep water applications, is the primary component of a system designed to provide a significant tractive or load-bearing effort to subsea cable or umbilical. Conventional traction winch systems utilize two sheaves with multiple cable grooves to apply this tractive effort via elliptically reeving cable around the two sheaves. Advancements in sampling instrument packages and vehicles to perform more complex, intervention tasks at greater depths have placed greater demands on the cables and umbilicals linking them to the surface. The traction winch system was designed to address the challenges associated with increased wire or cable tension. (information is from Chapter 11 'Double Drum Traction Winch Systems for Oceanographic Research', in the HANDBOOK OF OCEANOGRAPHIC WINCH, WIRE AND CABLE TECHNOLOGY, 3rd Edition, 2001, Editor, John Bash, http://www.unols.org/publications/winch_wire_handbook__3rd_ed/)

The Shimadzu Total Organic Carbon Analyzer TOC-VCPH is a PC-controlled, total organic carbon analyzer (high-sensitivity model), designed to measure total carbon (TC), inorganic carbon (IC), total organic carbon (TOC), and non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC); an optional accessory enables the measurement of particulate organic carbon (POC) and total nitrogen (TN) as well. The instrument uses the 680 degrees Celsius combustion catalytic oxidation method to analyze aqueous samples, and optionally solid and gas samples.

A unit that accurately determines the nitrogen concentrations of organic compounds typically by detecting and measuring its combustion product (NO). See description document at: http://bcodata.whoi.edu/LaurentianGreatLakes_Chemistry/totalnit.pdf

A Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (TIMS) is an instrument that measures isotopic ratios after electrical excitation of a sample causes ionization of the isotopes.

A thermal cycler or "thermocycler" is a general term for a type of laboratory apparatus, commonly used for performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR), that is capable of repeatedly altering and maintaining specific temperatures for defined periods of time. The device has a thermal block with holes where tubes with the PCR reaction mixtures can be inserted. The cycler then raises and lowers the temperature of the block in discrete, pre-programmed steps. They can also be used to facilitate other temperature-sensitive reactions, including restriction enzyme digestion or rapid diagnostics.

(adapted from http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/genomics/pcr.html)

Time depth recorders (TDR's) manufactured by Wildlife Computers, Redmond WA) are designed for studies of seals, penguins, fish, and marine mammals. Standard TDR's are mounted externally on the animal's body, where they record temperature and depth. See more information from the manufacturer.

The TRACOR Acoustic Profiling System (TAPS) is custom designed zooplankton sampler developed by V. Holliday of Tracor Inc. It uses a four transducer array operating at frequencies 265 kHz, 420 kHz, 1.1 MHz, and 3 MHz. The transducer array is designed to provide information on the distribution of individual organisms ranging in size from individual copepods to nauplii at distances of 2-3 m.

A Stramin net is specifically designed to sample plankton near the bottom and one such, designed by F.S. Russell in 1928, the 'stramin' net (Diameter: 1.5 m., Mesh: 6 strands/cm.) was equipped with rollers at the lower edge of its frame in order that it could be safely lowered until it touched the bottom. One "oblique" haul was made from the bottom (or from a depth of 200 m.) to the surface at each station. "It was mounted in an Agassiz trawl frame so that it was centered inside the trawl net, which was
also fixed to the frame and cleared the bottom by approximately 17.8 cm. No provisions were made to prevent contamination of the collection during the lowering of the net to the sea floor or the hauling back to the surface."(Wiebe and Benfield, 2003)

References:

Wiebe, Peter H. and Mark C. Benfield, 2003. From the Hensen net toward four-dimensional biological oceanography. Progress in Oceanography, 56, pp. 7-136.

The Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) is a passive microwave radiometer that measures atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial microwave brightness temperatures at 19.35, 22.2, 37.0, and 85.5 GHz, from which ocean surface wind speed, atmospheric water vapour, cloud liquid water and rain rate can be derived. The SSM/I consists of an offset parabolic reflector of dimensions 24 x 26 inches, fed by a corrugated, broad-band, seven-port horn antenna. The reflector and feed are mounted on a drum that contains the radiometers, digital data subsystem, mechanical scanning subsystem, and power subsystem. The reflector-feed-drum assembly is rotated about the axis of the drum by a coaxially mounted bearing and power transfer assembly (BAPTA). All data, commands, timing and telemetry signals, and power pass through the BAPTA on slip ring connectors to the rotating assembly. The absolute brightness temperature of the scene incident upon the antenna is received and spatially filtered by the antenna to produce an effective input signal or antenna temperature at the input of the feed horn antenna. The SSM/I has seven channels, four frequencies, and is orthogonally polarised. It rotates continuously about an axis parallel to the local spacecraft at 31.6 rpm and measures the upwelling scene brightness temperature over an angular range of 102.4 degrees at nadir. The active scene measurements lie +51.2 to -51.2 degrees about the forward (F10, F11) or aft (F8) direction. This results in a swath width of approximately 1400 kilometres. During each 1.9 second scan, 128 discrete uniformly spaced radiometric samples are taken at the two 85 GHz channels and, on alternate scans, 64 discrete samples are taken at the remaining lower frequency channels. The antenna beam intersects the Earth's surface at an incidence angle of 53.1 degrees. Flown on F08, F10, F11, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18 F19. https://nsidc.org/data/docs/daac/ssmi_instrument.gd.html

The SPOT5 is an Argos transmitter manufactured by Wildlife Computers (Redmond, WA) and designed for deployment on marine mammals, fish, or seabirds. SPOT5 devices use the Argos satellite network to transmit locations of animals with an accuracy of +/- 350-meters. See more information from the manufacturer.

"The split-beam echosounder has a transducer which is divided into four quadrants.The target direction is determined by comparing the signals received by each quadrant... The transmission pulse is applied to the whole transducer but the signals received by each quadrant are processed separately...The target strength is estimated from the transducer sensitivity in the relevant direction, namely the beam pattern and the on-axis sensitivity." From "Fisheries Acoustics: Theory and Practice" by E. John Simmonds, D. N. MacLennan, Wiley-Blackwell; 2 edition.

Measures Doppler near surface vessel speed through the water.

The World Precision Instruments (WPI) Multiple Pathlength Liquid Core Waveguide (MPLCW) system is an instrument package combining a Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cell (LWCC) and a WPI spectrophotometer via fiber optics. The waveguide is a fiber optic cell that combines an increased optical pathlength (50–500cm) with small sample volume (125–1250µL). Ultra-sensitive absorbance measurements can be performed in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) to detect low sample concentrations in a laboratory or process control environment. (www.whpiinc.com)

A spectrometer is an optical instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The World Precision Instruments (WPI) UltraPath is a high-performance spectral absorbency system developed by WPI under a collaborative agreement with NASA (Stennis Space Center) for the spectroscopic determination of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in
seawater and fresh water environments. It was designed for use in the laboratory and in the natural environment. (manufacturer site: www.wpiinc.com)

Mesh-netted bag used for collection of spat (juvenile scallops, oysters, etc.). Access to the bag is by a top opening held shut with a drawstring. Strips or panels of black plastic or cloth material, designed to attract spat, are placed into the fine-meshed bag. Bags are closed and hung underwater for a period of time to allow the spat to settle in the collection material. Further description provided here (PDF).

A Sonobuoy is a relatively small (typically 4 inches, or 124 mm, in diameter and 36 inches, or 910 mm, long) expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic research.

A standard ARGO style float, called the Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangian Explorer (SOLO and SOLO-II).

SOLO floats are drifting instruments and have the ability to change their own buoyancy. After deployment it moves with the ocean currents and can, therefore, travel long distances on their own without the need of a ship or a person to handle them. They are  programmed to come to the ocean surface at regular intervals to transmit their data and position to orbiting satellites. The float then sinks again, continuing the process.

To control the buoyancy of the float, a small amount of oil is contained within the float. When the float is submerged, all of the oil is kept entirely within the hull.  When it is time to rise to the surface, the oil is pumped into an external rubber bladder that expands.  Since the weight of the float does not change but its volume increases when the bladder expands, the float becomes more buoyant and floats to the surface.  Similarly, when the float is on the surface and it is time to submerge, the oil is withdrawn from the bladder into the hull of the float and the buoyancy decreases.

The Standard Monitoring Unit for the recruitment of Reef Fishes (SMURF) consists of a cylinder of fine mesh plastic grid that contains a folded section of larger mesh plastic grid.

See Ammann, A.J. 2004. SMURFs: standard monitoring units for the recruitment of temperate reef fishes. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 299:135– 154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2003.08.014

A high-precision instrument for measuring single-cell mass, volume, and density using one or two resonators connected by a serpentine fluidic channel. During operation of the dual SMR, a dilute cell population suspended in cell media, Fluid 1, is delivered to the sample bypass via pressure-driven flow (Figure 2A, Supplementary Figure 1), and single cells flow into the first SMR (SMR1) for the first buoyant mass measurement. The cells then travel through a microchannel to a cross-junction, where a second fluid of different density is introduced. After the cross-junction, cells continue through a long serpentine channel, which facilitates mixing of the two fluids. The cells next enter a second cantilever (SMR2) for a buoyant mass measurement in the mixed fluid, Fluid 2. As cells flow through each cantilever, a change in resonance frequency is recorded (Figure 2B), which is determined by each cell's buoyant mass in each cantilever's corresponding fluid.

Reference: Bryan, A.K. et al. (2015) Measuring single cell mass, volume, and density with dual suspended microchannel resonators. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108: 10992–10996 doi:10.1073/pnas.1104651108. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3895367/

The SLOWDROP Optical Profiler is a free-falling instrument package that "has a Sea-Bird 911+ CTD, two multiwavelength absorption meters (WetLabs ac-9), and a multiexcitation spectrofluorometer (WetLabs SAFIRE) as its basic configuration. The package is deployed on a loose data tether, with sufficient buoyancy on the package to obtain descent rates of 15-20 cm/s. These slow descent rates allow data acquisition on centimeter spatial scales and result in multiparameter characterization of small-scale features." (Cowles, et al.,1998)

References: Cowles, T.J., et al., 1998. Small-scale Planktonic Structure: Persistence and Trophic Consequences. Oceanography, Vol. 11(1), pp. 4-9.

A split-beam scientific echosounder primarily designed for fisheries research. It can operate seven frequencies simultaneously ranging from 18 to 710 kHz. Real time echo integration and target strength analysis in an unlimited number of layers is provided as well as storage of raw data for replay or analysis in one of several post-processing software packages such as Simrad's BI60.

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