Pre-Cruise Data Set Up

DC = Data Coordinator, DL = Data Liaison, MT = Mar Tech, CS = Chief Scientist. See the cruise roles for more information.

~1 month before cruise

1. Assign Roles

Decide who will act as Data Coordinator and Data Liaison for the cruise.

2. Metadata Setup

DC inserts information about the cruise into the database, as well as any new vessels, new variables, and new instruments that are being used.

DC tests all existing cruise applications to be used during the cruise.

CS, with help from the DC, enters the cruise plan waypoints into the Cruise Mapper.

3. Appliance Setup

DC works with the system administrator to design the network for connecting the appliance to the ship's network.

DC works with the ship's technicians to design the data flow from the ship's acquisition computers to the appliance.

DC works with the system administrators to build each appliance that will be carried on board a vessel.

DC loads the appliance database with a snapshot of the main CMOP database, and configures the subscriptions that will keep the two in sync.

DC configures the ingest scripts with the name of the cruise and vessel.

DC tests end-to-end connectivity using sample data.

1-2 weeks before cruise

4. CS verifies cruise e-mail address works and distributes the cruise contact list with phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all participants.

   0-2 days before cruise

5. Sensor Installation

MT connect, calibrate, and test the sensor package, as usual.

6. Configuration

MT & DL create a CON file in Seabird for all relevant variables. The CON file indicates how to convert the raw voltages to science units with respect to the calibration. DL needs to sign off on variable names, as he/she will be responsible for interpreting them. For example, if "userpoly 0" is the ISUS nitrate variable, this needs to communicated at this stage.

7. Seasave Configuration

MT setup the Seasave program to include NMEA latitude and longitude (if available). Also, the following form fields should be defined using Configure->Header Form:
a) Vessel:
b) Cruise:
b) Site:
c) Latitude:
d) Longitude

MT also work with the chief scientist to set up the on-screen plots.

DL and MT review the Cast Protocol and make any adjustments.

8. Conversion

DWG & MT create a Seabird PSA file that specifies how the data will be extracted and converted. The PSA file is where we specify which variables will be exported, which units we will use, and whether we include upcast and downcast data.

All CMOP PSA files should include:

• upcast and downcast data
• all raw voltage channels
• Time, Elapsed [seconds]
• Pressure, Digiquartz [db]
• Altimeter [m] (even if it's not connected)
• Scan Count
9. Ingest

DL or DC configures the ingest scripts mapping the names of the CMOP variables to the names of the configured Seabird variables from the CON file.

10. Test Cast

MT, DL, and DC conduct a test cast to verify that all variables appear in the CMOP database with the correct units and sensible values.

Make sure the Cruise Laptop is set up and the Cast/Sample spreadsheet is opened.

Test the laptop's connectivity with a printer so that data may be saved in hard copy every 12 hours.

Launch Day

1. Transfer Appliance to Vessel
2. Set up data feeds

These feeds are vessel specific.

3. Test all data feeds

Perform a test cast, turn on ADCP, ingest DAS/TSG data.

‹ Decisions from 1/16 MeetingupRoles for Cruise Data Management ›