Seabird

SBE Data Processing Challenges

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Challenge #1 Instructions

You are on a cruise off the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic. The waves are large and internet connectivity is poor. You have taken several casts with a CTD, but now you want to look at the data. Here we go through an exercise where you will use Sea-Bird Data processing to create a .cnv file and plot the data. The converted file can also be imported into Excel, Matlab, Python, R for advanced data processing or visualization if desired.

Use Sea-Bird Data Processing software to convert the data to a .cnv file, then plot it using SeaPlot.

  1. Download the exercise files. These include a .dat data file (newer instruments provide .hex data files) and a .con configuration file (newer instruments may use a .xmlcon configuration file.
  2. Download the latest version of SeaSoft.
  3. Open Sea-Bird Data Processing and select Data Conversion.
  4. On File Setup tab, select the Faroe.con file as the instrument configuration file.
    • Note: a .con file is simply an older .xmlcon file.
  5. On File Setup tab, select the Faroe.dat as the input file.
  6. On Data Setup tab:
    • Select Process scans to end of file.
    • Skip over 0 scans.
    • Select output format ascii.
    • Convert data from upcast and downcast.
    • Select Create .cnv file only.
    • Click Select Output Variables button
    • Click 1st Variable Name. Select Pressure, Digiquartz -> db. Click Add or Change.
    • Click 2nd Variable Name. Select Temperature -> ITS-90 -> deg C. Click Add or Change.
    • Click 3rd Variable Name. Select Conductivity -> S/m. Click Add or Change.
    • Click OK.
  7. Click Start Process.
  8. Click Exit when done.
  9. Open the .cnv file in Notepad or Wordpad, and take a look at the header and data.
  10. In the Sea-Bird Data Processing main menu, select SeaPlot.
  11. On File Setup tab:
    • Input file: Click Select. Navigate to data that you converted (Faroe.cnv) and click Open.
  12. On Plot Setup tab:
    • Select a Plot type of Single Y - Multiple X.
  13. On Y Axis tab:
    • For Variable, select Pressure, Digiquartz [db].
    • Check Auto range.
  14. On X Axis 1 tab:
    • For Variable, select Temperature [ITS-90, deg C].
    • Check Auto range
  15. On X Axis 2 tab:
    • Check Include axis.
    • For Variable, select Derived Salinity, Practical [PSU].
    • Check Auto range.
  16. Click Start Process.
  17. View Plot!

Note that we were able to have Sea Plot calculate Salinity on the fly, because conductivity, temperature, and pressure were in the input .cnv file. This allows us to get a quick look at salinity before more advanced processing, even though the .cnv file does not contain a salinity column of data yet.

 

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