Dataset: BATS CTD Profiles

Name: Two decibar averaged CTD profiles collected at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from October 1988 through December 2023
Published: 2024-10-23
Keywords: BATS CTD profiles, BATS 2dbar profiles, BATS CTD, oceans

Cite This Dataset

DOI:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.3918.8

Spatial Extent: N:36.662 E:-61.166 S:19.225 W:-74.6

Bermuda Atlantic TimeSeries Study (BATS) station

Temporal Extent: 1988-10-20 - 2023-12-15

Project:

Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS)

Program:

Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB)

U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (U.S. JGOFS)

Ocean Time-series Sites (Ocean Time-series)

Principal Investigator:

Nicholas Bates (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, BIOS)

Scientist:

Rodney J. Johnson (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, BIOS)

Paul J. Lethaby (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, BIOS)

Data Manager:

Dominic Smith (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, BIOS)

BCO-DMO Data Manager:

Dana Stuart Gerlach (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Audrey Mickle (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI BCO-DMO)

Version:

Version Date:

2024-10-23

Restricted:

Validated:

Yes

Current State:

Final with updates expected

Two decibar averaged CTD profiles collected at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from October 1988 through December 2023

Abstract:

Data presented here are profiles of primary CTD parameters (pressure, depth, temperature, and salinity) plus auxiliary measurements of dissolved oxygen, beam attenuation, relative fluorescence, and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) at the BATS site (31° 40' N 64° 10'W) for years 1988-2023. Profiles were collected using a standard Sea-Bird SBE-09 plus CTD during the monthly core BATS cruises and near biweekly BATS bloom cruises during the months of February through April depending on ship availability. Data are processed following the methods of Knap et al., 1997 with the final product being reported as two decibar averages and all profiles for each cruise reported in a single cruise file. It should be noted that the two decibar profiles are reported for the downcast only and bottle marker data collected on the upcast are presented with the BATS bottle dataset.

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Archival Copy

Version Date	Archive	Persistent Identifier (PID)	Date PID Issued
2024-10-23	Marine Biological Laboratory/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library (MBLWHOI DLA)	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.3918.8	2024-10-31

Description

Data collection is ongoing, with updates made semi-annually. For guidance on downloading data subsets, please refer to the BCO-DMO ERDDAP instructions here: https://guide.bco-dmo.org/access-and-reuse/erddap. Decadal subsets available for download from this ERDDAP service include:

Methods & Sampling

CTD profiles at the BATS site have been collected since the inception of the program in October 1988. Although there have been some changes during the past thirty-five years as a result of new instrumentation or methodologies, the general sampling procedures have been consistent with those detailed in the BATS method manual version #4 (Knap et al., 1997).

In summary, the CTD is operated as per SeaBird's suggested methods with data collection at the full scan rate of 24 hertz (Hz). The CTD is powered up and allowed to stabilize at 12 meters prior to profiling. This stabilization period is important for both the conductivity and dissolved oxygen sensors to warm up prior to making measurements. Once stable (typically 4 minutes) the CTD is brought back to the surface from which point the profile begins with typical descent rates of 0.7 to 1.0 meters per second (m/s), depending on weather conditions. Water samples are collected on the upcast and prior to triggering bottles, the CTD is kept at the desired depth for a minimum of 60 seconds to ensure that entrainment from the following wake has subsided. Once the water sample is taken, the CTD immediately continues with the upcast at an ascent rate of 0.7 to 1.0 m/s.

The basic system used to acquire CTD data is a Sea-Bird SBE 9plus CTD, with an internal Digiquartz pressure sensor, a Sea-Bird SBE-3F temperature sensor, a Sea-Bird SBE-4 conductivity cell and a Sea-Bird SBE-5 pump. Additional sensors include the Sea-Brid SBE-43 dissolved oxygen sensor, the WET Labs C-Star or Chelsea/Seatech
Transmissometer, the Chelsea Aqua 3 Fluorometer, and the Biospherical/Licor PAR/Irradiance sensor. Present configuration also includes a secondary temperature sensor, a Sea-Bird SBE-35 temperature sensor, a secondary conductivity sensor and pump, which are connected independently from the primary units. The temperature and conductivity sensors are connected by a standard Sea-Bird TC-duct (clear, low viscous type), which ensures that the same parcel of water is sampled by both sensors, improving the accuracy of the computed salinity. The dissolved oxygen sensor is connected downstream from the conductivity cell and the flow rate through this sensor configuration is maintained at a steady rate by the inertia balanced SBE-5 pump.

Data Processing Description

CTD data processing typically follows the procedures outlined in Knap et al., 1997 and can be divided into two major stages: (1) CTD signal conversion and dynamic sensor correction, and; (2) static drift corrections and empirical field calibrations. Stage 1 is performed using SeaBird's SEASOFT software and some Matlab scripts, while Stage 2 is performed completely in the Matlab environment.

The basic steps of Stage 1 are:

preliminary CTD sensor quality check;
determination of the dynamic coefficients associated with time alignment and thermal mass problems;
application of pressure filter and velocity filter (0.3 m/s);
application of digital filters for erroneous signal removal;
and finally average to 2 Hz ready for stage 2 processing.

The processing steps in Stage 2 include:

static drift corrections as determined from the sensor calibration history;
empirical field calibration of the conductivity and oxygen sensors;
final QC analysis; and bin average downcast data to 2 dbar.

Following experience of profiling with the SBE–35RT temperature probes, appropriate routines are being implemented to assess performance of the SBE–03f units against the SBE–35 and implement correction procedures. It should be noted that only downcast data are processed and reported, except for the marker data during bottle fires on the upcast.

BCO-DMO Processing

- imported all 488 CTD meta files into BCO DMO system
- concatenated all CTD meta files into one file
- imported all 488 CTD data files into BCO DMO system
- concatenated all CTD data files into one file
- imported all 488 CTD mask files into BCO DMO system
- concatenated all CTD mask files into one file
- replaced NaN and -999 with the fill value 'nd'.
- joined the data and mask files based on row number
- converted date and time to ISO UTC times for deployment and recovery
- converted longitude values to decimal degrees (multiplied degrees West by -1)
- created new fields for "Vessel", "Cruise_type", "Cruise_num", and "Cast" (extracted from ID column)
- modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO naming conventions and to be more consistent with other BATS data submissions

Data Files

File
3918_v8_bats_ctd.csv (Comma Separated Values (.csv), 711.96 MB) MD5:c87790d5ca7bef830b9e77ce11186b62 Primary data file for dataset ID 3918, version 8

Supplemental Files

File
BATS CTD summary file for version 8 (v008) filename: release_v008_summary.txt (Plain Text, 44.23 KB) MD5:4e9608934089445797e211e7872a5c1a File lists all CTD casts for version 8 (v008) BATS CTD data. Please note file also lists casts for BATS validation cruises ( Cruise ID - 5#####) and Hydrostation S ( Cruise ID - 6####) cruises which should be ignored for this data submission.
Update file for BATS CTD data version V008 filename: bats_ctd_release_v008_update.txt (Plain Text, 670 bytes) MD5:2686348e02ed5be56e22b32dbfa07de3 File list changes and new cruises added to this current version (v008) from previous version 7 (v007).

More Information about this dataset

Funding Sources

Funding Source	Award Number
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-0752336
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-2241455
NSF Division of Ocean Sciences	OCE-1756105

Deployments

Deployment	Synonyms	Start Date	Platform	Investigator
BATS_cruises	Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study cruises	1988-10-20	Multiple Vessels	Nicholas Bates (Principal Investigator) Michael W. Lomas (Co-Principal Investigator) Rodney J. Johnson (Scientist) Theresa McKee (BCO-DMO Data Manager)	data info

Instruments

CTD Sea-Bird 911

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: CTD Sea-Bird 911

Acronym: CTD SBE 911

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0035/

Generic Description:

The Sea-Bird SBE 911 is a type of CTD instrument package. The SBE 911 includes the SBE 9 Underwater Unit and the SBE 11 Deck Unit (for real-time readout using conductive wire) for deployment from a vessel. The combination of the SBE 9 and SBE 11 is called a SBE 911. The SBE 9 uses Sea-Bird's standard modular temperature and conductivity sensors (SBE 3 and SBE 4). The SBE 9 CTD can be configured with auxiliary sensors to measure other parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, fluorescence, light (PAR), light transmission, etc.). More information from Sea-Bird Electronics.

CTD Sea-Bird SBE 911plus

Supplied Name: CTD Sea-Bird 911+

Supplied Description:

SeaBird 9/11+ CTD equipped with dual SBE-03f temperature sensors, SBE-04 conductivity sensors, and SBE45 dissolved oxygen sensors

Instrument Type

Generic Name: CTD Sea-Bird SBE 911plus

Acronym: CTD SBE 911plus

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0058/

Generic Description:

The Sea-Bird SBE 911 plus is a type of CTD instrument package for continuous measurement of conductivity, temperature and pressure. The SBE 911 plus includes the SBE 9plus Underwater Unit and the SBE 11plus Deck Unit (for real-time readout using conductive wire) for deployment from a vessel. The combination of the SBE 9 plus and SBE 11 plus is called a SBE 911 plus. The SBE 9 plus uses Sea-Bird's standard modular temperature and conductivity sensors (SBE 3 plus and SBE 4). The SBE 9 plus CTD can be configured with up to eight auxiliary sensors to measure other parameters including dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, fluorescence, light (PAR), light transmission, etc.). more information from Sea-Bird Electronics

Fluorometer

Supplied Name: Chelsea Aqua 3 fluorometer

Supplied Description:

Additional sensors for the CTD data include the Chelsea Aqua 3 Fluorometer

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Fluorometer

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/113/

Generic Description:

A fluorometer or fluorimeter is a device used to measure parameters of fluorescence: its intensity and wavelength distribution of emission spectrum after excitation by a certain spectrum of light. The instrument is designed to measure the amount of stimulated electromagnetic radiation produced by pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted into a water sample or in situ.

LI-COR Biospherical PAR Sensor

Supplied Name: Biospherical/Licor PAR/Irradiance sensor

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: LI-COR Biospherical PAR Sensor

Acronym: LI-COR Biospherical PAR

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0074/

Generic Description:

The LI-COR Biospherical PAR Sensor is used to measure Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) in the water column. This instrument designation is used when specific make and model are not known.

SBE 5T/5P Submersible Pump

Supplied Name: Sea-Bird SBE 5 pump

Supplied Description:

The flow rate through this sensor configuration is maintained at a steady rate by the inertia balanced SBE-5 pump.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: SBE 5T/5P Submersible Pump

Acronym: SBE 5 pump

Generic Description:

The Sea-Bird SBE 5T or 5P pumps are a modular component on several Sea-Bird CTD packages. The 5T or 5P is standard equipment on the SBE 9plus CTD and 25 and 25plus Sealogger CTD, and optional equipment on the SBE 16plus V2, 16plus-IM V2, and 19plus V2 SeaCAT CT(D) recorders. The highly reliable pump flushes water through the conductivity cell at a constant rate, independent of the CTD’s motion, improving dynamic performance. Operational characteristics of the 5T and 5P are identical, but the housings and depth ratings differ (5T titanium housing to 10,500 m; 5P plastic housing to 600 m).

Sea Tech Transmissometer

Supplied Name: Chelsea/SeaTech transmissometer

Supplied Description:

Additional sensors for CTD sampling include the WET Labs C-Star or Chelsea/Seatech Transmissometer.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Sea Tech Transmissometer

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0003/

Generic Description:

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).

Sea-Bird SBE 43 Dissolved Oxygen Sensor

Supplied Name: SBE 43 Dissolved Oxygen Sensor

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Sea-Bird SBE 43 Dissolved Oxygen Sensor

Acronym: SBE-43 DO

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0036/

Generic Description:

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

Sea-Bird SBE-3 Temperature Sensor

Supplied Name: Sea-Bird SBE-3F temperature sensor

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Sea-Bird SBE-3 Temperature Sensor

Acronym: SBE-3 Temperature

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L05/current/134/

Generic Description:

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

Sea-Bird SBE-4 Conductivity Sensor

Supplied Name:

Supplied Description:

Instrument Type

Generic Name: Sea-Bird SBE-4 Conductivity Sensor

Acronym: SBE-4 Conductivity

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0417/

Generic Description:

The Sea-Bird SBE-4 conductivity sensor is a modular, self-contained instrument that measures conductivity from 0 to 7 Siemens/meter. The sensors (Version 2; S/N 2000 and higher) have electrically isolated power circuits and optically coupled outputs to eliminate any possibility of noise and corrosion caused by ground loops. The sensing element is a cylindrical, flow-through, borosilicate glass cell with three internal platinum electrodes. Because the outer electrodes are connected together, electric fields are confined inside the cell, making the measured resistance (and instrument calibration) independent of calibration bath size or proximity to protective cages or other objects.

WET Labs {Sea-Bird WETLabs} C-Star transmissometer

Supplied Name: WET Labs C-Star Transmissometer

Supplied Description:

Additional sensors for CTD sampling include the WET Labs C-Star or Chelsea/Seatech Transmissometer.

Instrument Type

Generic Name: WET Labs {Sea-Bird WETLabs} C-Star transmissometer

Acronym: WL CSTAR Trans

Community Identifier: http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L22/current/TOOL0160/

Generic Description:

The C-Star transmissometer has a novel monolithic housing with a highly intgrated opto-electronic design to provide a low cost, compact solution for underwater measurements of beam transmittance. The C-Star is capable of free space measurements or flow-through sampling when used with a pump and optical flow tubes. The sensor can be used in profiling, moored, or underway applications. Available with a 6000 m depth rating.

More information on Sea-Bird website: https://www.seabird.com/c-star-transmissometer/product?id=60762467717

Parameters

Date and time formats are described in python strftime() syntax.

Supplied Name	Supplied description	Supplied Units	Standard Name
ID	Sample identification; identifies cruise and cast	unitless	sample
ISO_DateTime_UTC_deployed	CTD deployment time in UTC format Format: %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ	unitless	ISO_DateTime_UTC
ISO_DateTime_UTC_recovered	CTD recovery time in UTC format Format: %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ	unitless	ISO_DateTime_UTC
Vessel	Name of vessel used for cruise	unitless	ship
Latitude_deployed	Latitude of CTD deployment	decimal degrees	lat
Longitude_deployed	Longitude of CTD deployment	decimal degrees	lon
Latitude_recovered	Latitude of CTD recovery	decimal degrees	lat
Longitude_recovered	Longitude of CTD recovery	decimal degrees	lon
Cruise_type	Cruise type (BATS Core, Bloom A, or Bloom B)	unitless	cruise_type
Cruise_num	BATS Cruise number	unitless	cruise_id
Cast	Cast Number (1-80 = CTD, 81-99 = Hydrocast)	unitless	cast
Depth	Collection depth of sample	meters (m)	depth
QF_Depth	Quality control flag for depth; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Pressure	Pressure (dbar)	decibars (dbar)	press
QF_Pressure	Quality control flag for pressure; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Temperature	Temperature (ITS-90)	degrees Celsius	temp
QF_Temperature	Quality control flag for temperature; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Salinity	Salinity (psu)	PSU	sal_ctd
QF_Salinity	Quality control flag for salinity; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Oxygen	Dissolved Oxygen	micromole per kilogram (umol/kg)	O2
QF_Oxygen	Quality control flag for dissolved oxygen; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
BAC	Beam Attenuation Coefficient	reciprocal meters (1/m)	beam_cp
QF_BAC	Quality control flag for BAC; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Flu	Fluorescence	relative fluorescence units (RFU)	fluor
QF_Flu	Quality control flag for fluorescence; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
PAR	Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)	microeinsteins per meter squared per second (uE/m2/s)	PAR
QF_PAR	Quality control flag for PAR; Parameter quality flags defined as 1= unverified, 2= verified acceptable, 3= questionable, 4= bad, 9= no data	unitless	q_flag
Date_deployed	CTD deployment date in YYYYMMDD format	unitless	date
Date_recovered	CTD recovery date in YYYYMMDD format	unitless	date
Time_deployed	CTD deployment time in HHMM format	unitless	time
Time_recovered	CTD recovery time in HHMM format	unitless	time
Decimal_Year_deployed	CTD deployment time in decimal year format	unitless	year_decimal
Decimal_Year_recovered	CTD recovery time in decimal year format	unitless	year_decimal

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Dataset: BATS CTD Profiles