Welcome to the CTD-Client!

This is the documentation for the CTD-Client developed at the Leibniz-Institute for Baltic Sea Research, Germany (IOW) in the context of the Underway Project of the German Alliance for Marine Research (DAM).

Intro

The CTD-Client is a program that supports the measurement of CTD-data with Sea-Bird CTDs. Calls Sea-Birds measuring software, Seasave, with certain parameters and alters its configuration file prior to measurements. This way, a variety of functions can be achieved:

  • primarily tags data files with metadata from the ship information system available on german research vessels (DSHIP)

  • allows for programmed bottle closing time configuration

  • can run processing scripts using Sea-Bird processing modules and custom ones, via the ctd-processing python package.

  • supports Near-Real-Time distribution of CTD data via email

  • saves relevant usage data for continuous operation

Metadata injection

Using DSHIP, or a comparable ship information system whose data can be retrieved via simple TCP/IP-calls, all kinds of ship metadata can be saved to the Sea-Bird custom header. This way, all data files, from raw .hex data, to .btl or .cnv data files will feature the metadata information. Additionally, other metadata, like a continuous bottle number for a whole cruise, can be put into the metadata header. The file name of the data file will also be build from different pieces of metadata.

Programmable bottle closing

If the automatic firing of water bottles is wanted, for example when using free-flow bottles, those can be programmed inside the CTD-Client. The software can also adjust for hardware-specific time delays between firing individual bottles.

Processing

Processing raw data after measurements is also supported. The different processing steps to run can be configured in a separate tab, while the execution will be a single bottom press on the main page. That way, the data can be easily processed in seconds after a successful measurement. The configuration window does also feature a very intuitive alteration of processing workflows, allowing for quick and constant playing around with the data.

Near-Real-Time data distribution

All acquired data can automatically send to different stakeholders or other interested parties. The distribution protocol is email and can be set to sending daily to a specific time or after each processing workflow.

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