CTD Standard Sensors.

Abstract

CalCOFI's primary hydrographic instrument is a Seabird 911+ CTD equipped with dual temperature, conductivity and oxygen sensors mounted on a 24-10L bottle rosette. Additional CTD sensors mounted on the rosette frame include a fluorometer, transmissometer, nitrate sensor, PAR, pH and altimeter. The CTD-Rosette is lowered into the ocean measuring a suite of seawater properties throughout the water column. Occupying the same stations (specific GPS locations) four times a year - Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall - we measure physical & biological properties: temperature, salinity, oxygen, fluorescence (chlorophyll), nutrients, and productivity from surface to 500m. Additional measurements from seawater samples collected using the rosette are combined with CTD sensor data, filling out the dataset. These seasonal measurements are published in Cruise Data Reports & added to our time-series database, both available online.