Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

The seasoar is a towed, undulating vehicle which records CTD and other data. The system records SeaBird CTD data at 24 hz, and it had other sensors on the A/D channels. The seasoar gets towed along different tracklines to map out various survey areas. Each time the seasoar is deployed and recovered is one "tow", and each of the cruises have a number of tows.

  PI:              Jack Barth (OSU), Dave Hebert (URI)
  dataset:         SeaSoar CTD data
  project/cruise:  R/V Oceanus Cruise 340 and 343 to Georges Bank
  ship:            Oceanus
 
  Cruise details given in:

  Hebert, D., J. A. Barth, D. Ullman, S. Fontana and W. Ostrom,
  1999.  Cruise Report: R/V Oceanus Cruise 340 to Georges Bank, 28 March
  to 12 April 1999.
  US GLOBEC NW Atlantic/Georges Bank Study, 37 pp.

  Methods are described in:
 
  SeaSoar CTD Observations During the Coastal Mixing and Optics Experiment:
  R/V Endeavor Cruises from 14-Aug to 1-Sep 1996 and 25-Apr to 15-May 1997.
  R. O'Malley, J.A. Barth, A. Erofeev, J. Fleischbein, P.M. Kosro and 
  S.D. Pierce.  College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State
  University, Corvallis.  Reference 98-1, Data Report 168, October 1998.
 
  Hebert, D., J. A. Barth, D. Ullman and S. Fontana,
  1999.  Cruise Report: R/V Oceanus Cruise 343 to Georges Bank, 14 June
  to 1 July 1999.
  US GLOBEC NW Atlantic/Georges Bank Study, 40 pp.

  These are flat files, with data every 1-sec for each tow.  The tows are 
  numbered sequentialy (tow1, tow2, etc).

Notes:
1. There are two fields for different fluorometers: flvolt (aka FL-1) is from a WetLabs Wetstar fluorometer, while flvolt_2 (aka FL-2) is from a WetLabs FlashPAK fluorometer.

2. Original field name is shown in parenthesis in the "Description" column.

3. There were some problems in the data fields whenever the lat/lon were interpolated for lack of GPS observations. The OC343 data files were replaced on-line with the reprocessed files October 16, 2000.

The seasoar is a towed, undulating vehicle which records CTD and other data. The system records SeaBird CTD data at 24 hz, and it had other sensors on the A/D channels. The seasoar gets towed along different tracklines to map out various survey areas. Each time the seasoar is deployed and recovered is one 'tow', and each of the cruises have a number of tows.

Methods are described in:
 
  SeaSoar CTD Observations During the Coastal Mixing and Optics Experiment:
  R/V Endeavor Cruises from 14-Aug to 1-Sep 1996 and 25-Apr to 15-May 1997.
  R. O'Malley, J.A. Barth, A. Erofeev, J. Fleischbein, P.M. Kosro and 
  S.D. Pierce.  College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State
  University, Corvallis.  Reference 98-1, Data Report 168, October 1998.
 
  Hebert, D., J. A. Barth, D. Ullman and S. Fontana,
  1999.  Cruise Report: R/V Oceanus Cruise 343 to Georges Bank, 14 June
  to 1 July 1999.
  US GLOBEC NW Atlantic/Georges Bank Study, 40 pp.

  These are flat files, with data every 1-sec for each tow.  The tows are 
  numbered sequentialy (tow1, tow2, etc).

The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Program is a large multi- disciplinary multi-year oceanographic effort. The proximate goal is to understand the population dynamics of key species on the Bank - Cod, Haddock, and two species of zooplankton (Calanus finmarchicus and Pseudocalanus) - in terms of their coupling to the physical environment and in terms of their predators and prey. The ultimate goal is to be able to predict changes in the distribution and abundance of these species as a result of changes in their physical and biotic environment as well as to anticipate how their populations might respond to climate change.

The effort is substantial, requiring broad-scale surveys of the entire Bank, and process studies which focus both on the links between the target species and their physical environment, and the determination of fundamental aspects of these species' life history (birth rates, growth rates, death rates, etc).

Equally important are the modelling efforts that are ongoing which seek to provide realistic predictions of the flow field and which utilize the life history information to produce an integrated view of the dynamics of the populations.

The U.S. GLOBEC Georges Bank Executive Committee (EXCO) provides program leadership and effective communication with the funding agencies.

U.S. GLOBEC (GLOBal ocean ECosystems dynamics) is a research program organized by oceanographers and fisheries scientists to address the question of how global climate change may affect the abundance and production of animals in the sea.

The U.S. GLOBEC Program currently had major research efforts underway in the Georges Bank / Northwest Atlantic Region, and the Northeast Pacific (with components in the California Current and in the Coastal Gulf of Alaska). U.S. GLOBEC was a major contributor to International GLOBEC efforts in the Southern Ocean and Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP).