Dataset: Drifters
Deployment: W0308C

Drifters

Principal Investigator:

Barbara M. Hickey (University of Washington, UW)

Contact:

Nancy Kachel (University of Washington, UW)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Stephen R. Gegg (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI)

Project:

ECOHAB - Pacific Northwest (ECOHAB-PNW)

Current State:

Final no updates expected

Version:

14 January 2011

Deployment Synonyms:

ECOHAB_2, EH2, ECOHAB/PNW2, W0308c, w0308c

Version Date:

2011-01-14

Data URL:

https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset-deployment/452816/data

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Description

ECOHAB/PNW - Drifters

Methods & Sampling

Dataset acquisition description

ECOHAB PNW Drifter Data Summary

ARGOS-tracked drifters were deployed in the ECOHAB PNW study region during all six cruises.

Drifter models included Clearwater Instrumentation, Inc ClearSat-1 surface drifters and

Brightwaters Instrument Co. models 104A and 115. The majority of drifters deployed were in

the Davis/CODE configuration designed to accurately track the top 1 m of the water column.

The Brightwaters models also allow for a deep-drogued configuration in which a 10-m long

"holey-sock" drogue is attached and centered at the desired depth. Drifters transmitted

1/2-hourly GPS positions to the ARGOS satellites. Individual drifter deployment locations

and times, as well as drogue center depth (if applicable), are listed in tables in each

cruise subdirectory (html files). Drifters were set to time-out after a set time interval

(usually 45 or 60 days). The date of last tranmission (or the recovery date) are listed in

the tables.

Data Processing Description

Dataset Processing Description

ECOHAB PNW Drifter Data Processing:

Raw drifter data has been edited to remove duplicate transmissions and occasiaonal unrealistic

positions. Final data for each drifter is in individual files with the suffix ".edt". If a

drifter was deployed more than once during a cruise, the drifter id will be followed by a

letter (a/b/c) indicating sequential deployments. Each file has four columns which are date,

time, GPS longitude, and GPS latitude. Temperature and conductivity data are available for

some drifters, but this data has not been calibrated so users should contact Barbara Hickey

hickey@u.washington.edu) if they wish to obtain this data.

BCO-DMO Processing Notes

Generated from original file ECOdrifters.zip

contributed to BCO-DMO as a zipped data/docs file by Any MacFadyen

BCO-DMO Edits

- generated a file of all ECOHAB drifter "metadata" from individual .html yearly files

- file includes drifterids, models, deployment/recovery dates/times, deployment lats/lons and comments

- file was generated manually from data contained in the .html files

- empty cells filled with "nd" (no data)

- Cruise changed from "Cruise_1,2,3,4" to ECOHAB_1, etc for consistency with other data sets

Drifter data files

- simple awk script generated to reformat ECOHAB/PNW drifter data fmt to BCO-DMO

- date reformatted to YYYYMMDD

- time reformatted to HHMMSS

- lat/lon positions output unchanged

- Sample I/P Record: 25-Sep-2006 05:00:00 -125.496333 48.247833

- Sample O/P Record: 20060925,050000,-125.496333,48.247833

- Simple plot generated of individual drifter track with coastline to provide preview capability

More information about this dataset deployment

Funding

Award Number	Funding Source
NA170P2789	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
OCE-0234587	NSF Division of Ocean Sciences

Instruments

Drifter Buoy

Supplied Description:

Clearwater Instrumentation, Inc ClearSat-1 surface drifters

Brightwaters Instrument Co. models 104A and 115.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Drifter Buoy

Generic Description:

Drifting buoys are free drifting platforms with a float or buoy that keep the drifter at the surface and underwater sails or socks that catch the current. These instruments sit at the surface of the ocean and are transported via near-surface ocean currents. They are not fixed to the ocean bottom, therefore they "drift" with the currents. For this reason, these instruments are referred to as drifters, or drifting buoys.

The surface float contains sensors that measure different parameters, such as sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, salinity, wave height, etc. Data collected from these sensors are transmitted to satellites passing overhead, which are then relayed to land-based data centers.

definition sources: https://mmisw.org/ont/ioos/platform/drifting_buoy and https://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/gdp/faq.php#drifter1

Parameters

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
Cruise	ECOHAB-PNW cruise name	text	cruise_id
Drifter_Data_File	Drifter data filename (YYYYMon_File)	text	dataset_id
DrifterID	Drifter id	text	inst_serial_numb
Model	Drifter model	text	inst_model
Date_Deployed	Drifter deployment date (GMT)	YYYYMMDD	date_begin
Time_Deployed	Drifter deployment time (GMT)	HHMMSS	time_begin
Lon_Deployed	Drifter deployment longitude	decimal degs (West is negative)	lon_begin
Lat_Deployed	Drifter deployment latitude	decimal degs (South is negative)	lat_begin
Date_Recovered	Drifter recovery or timed out date (GMT)	YYYYMMDD	day_end
Time_Recovered	Drifter recovery or timed out time (GMT)	HHMMSS	time_end
comments	Misc comments	text	comment
date	Drifter data date (GMT)	YYYYMMDD	date
time	Drifter data time (GMT)	HHMMSS	time
lon_drift	Drifter data longitude	decimal degs (West is negative)	lon
lat_drift	Drifter data latitude	decimal degs (South is negative)	lat
Preview_Plot	Link to simple plot of drifter track with coastline	text	no_bcodmo_term

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: Drifters
Deployment: W0308C

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Database

Contribute Data

Dataset: DriftersDeployment: W0308C

Dataset acquisition description

Dataset Processing Description

Dataset: Drifters
Deployment: W0308C