Table of Contents

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

Environmental Data Stream (CTD Plus)
A Component of the BIOMAPERII Data Acquisition System

These data are from the Environmental Sensing System (ESS) a component of the BIO -Optical Multi-frequency Acoustical and Physical Environmental Recorder (BIOMAPER II)¹ data acquisition system.

BIOMAPERII is a towed package consisting of a number of independent observational components: a multi-frequency sonar (Acoustics) system, a video plankton recorder (VPR) system, and an environmental sensor system (ESS). The incoming ESS environmental data is split into two data streams, one to be merged with the VPR data and one to be merged with the acoustics data. The reason being that there are times when either the Acoustic or VPR system may be turned off. Thus, there is a independent ESS data set to support either the Acoustic or VPR data streams.

The ESS data reported here are in support of the Acoustics data stream. See the data object "sv120data", 120 kHz acoustic backscatter data set.

References

¹Wiebe, P.H., et al., 2002, BIOMAPER-II: An Integrated Instrument Platform for Coupled Biological and Physical Measurements in Coastal and Oceanic Regimes. IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, 27(3):700-716.

²Fofonoff and Millard, 1983, UNESCO technical papers in Marine Sciences, #44.

Questions concerning this data set should be directed to:
Peter Wiebe
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA 02543
voice: (508) 289-2313
fax: (508) 457-2169
e-mail: pwiebe@whoi.edu

Last updated: Apr 20, 2006

These data are from the Environmental Sensing System (ESS) a component of the BIO -Optical Multi-frequency Acoustical and Physical Environmental Recorder (BIOMAPER II)1 data acquisition system.

The fundamental objectives of United States Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) Program are dependent upon the cooperation of scientists from several disciplines. Physicists, biologists, and chemists must make use of data collected during U.S. GLOBEC field programs to further our understanding of the interplay of physics, biology, and chemistry. Our objectives require quantitative analysis of interdisciplinary data sets and, therefore, data must be exchanged between researchers. To extract the full scientific value, data must be made available to the scientific community on a timely basis.

The U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) program has the goal of understanding and ultimately predicting how populations of marine animal species respond to natural and anthropogenic changes in climate. Research in the Southern Ocean (SO) indicates strong coupling between climatic processes and ecosystem dynamics via the annual formation and destruction of sea ice. The Southern Ocean GLOBEC Program (SO GLOBEC) will investigate the dynamic relationship between physical processes and ecosystem responses through identification of critical parameters that affect the distribution, abundance and population dynamics of target species. The overall goals of the SO GLOBEC program are to elucidate shelf circulation processes and their effect on sea ice formation and krill distribution, and to examine the factors which govern krill survivorship and availability to higher trophic levels, including penguins, seals and whales. The focus of the U.S. contribution to the international SO GLOBEC program will be on winter processes. This component will focus on juvenile and adult krill and mesozooplankton prey distribution and abundance using a sophisticated instrument package, BIOMAPPER II, which is equipped with an acoustic backscatter sonar system, a video plankton recorder and an environmental sensor system. The system is used in large-scale studies. Additionally, a remotely-operative vehicle will be used to map the distribution and behavior of krill under ice. The result of the integrated SO GLOBEC program will be to improve the predictability of living marine resources, especially with respect to local and global climatic shifts.

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).

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).