Skip to content

Ocean Sensor Deployment

Jump to bottom
Bruce Wallin edited this page Jul 30, 2021 · 2 revisions

Ocean Sensor Deployment Information

Seabird

SeaBird SBE 37-IMP MicroCAT Deployment Setup

What you’ll need: SeaBird SBE 37-IMP device Tester/Setup Box: Orange Pelican Case with an IMM and ferrite ring inside Short piece of mooring cable Windows computer with SeatermV2.exe installed and a serial port

Procedure:

  1. Connect Tester/Setup Box to the Seabird Inside the Pelican case, there are two terminals for the mooring cable. Put one end of the mooring cable into one of the ports on the front of the box and screw the end of the cable into the terminal. Put the other end through the IM Coupler on the SeaBird, feed it through, and put it into the other port on the front of the box. Screw this end of the cable into the open terminal.

  2. Plug in and turn on the IMM The IMM inside the box has a DB-9 plug. Plug this into a serial port on the Windows computer. If needed, use a DB-9 to USB adapter for the serial communication. Also connected to the IMM is a 9V battery. This battery has a switch to turn on power to the IMM.

  3. Start communication between the Windows computer and the IMM/SeaBird Open SeatermV2.exe. Under the ‘Instruments’ dropdown menu, choose ‘SBE 37 IM’. This should pull up a window called SeatermIM. Choose the correct COM port for your computer. Choose a reasonable Baud rate. We were using 9600 Baud in the lab and had no problems. Select ‘Automatically get instrument ID’. Click OK. Once the communication has been established, SeatermIM will automatically send commands to turn on the IMM and the SeaBird. It will read the ID from the instrument as well. Give the program some time to allow the commands to finish running. This should take no more than two minutes.

  4. Test communication To test the communication between the computer, IMM, and SeaBird, you should run a few commands. First, type “GetCD” into the terminal. You should see configuration daa printing in your terminal. This shows that the IMM is talking to your computer. Next, type “ID?” into the terminal. This requests that the SeaBird send its ID for IM communication. This should output an ID value that matches the ID written on the outside of the instrument. Next, type “#iiGetHD” where ii is the ID value that was printed in the terminal. (If the ID is 06, type “#06GetID”). This will print the hardware data from the instrument, ensuring that an IM communication has been established. NOTE: Both the IMM and the SeaBird have a 2 minute timeout. If either device does not receive a command for two minutes, it will go into a sleep mode. To wake up the IMM again, press any key while typing in the terminal. After it times out, it will need to recapture the IM line. Type “FCL” into the terminal. This forces the IMM to capture the IM line. After this, type “SendWakeUpTone” into the terminal. This will make the IMM send a tone to wake the SeaBird back up.*

  5. Set DateTime It is recommended that all of the SeaBird’s in operation have the same DateTime set. To set the DateTime on the SeaBird you are setting up, use the command “#iiDateTime=mmddyyyyhhmmss” where ii is the instrument ID and mmddyyyyhhmmss is the time format. For example, if you want to set the DateTime on the SeaBird with ID 06 to August 16, 2019 at 13:05:30, the command would be #06DateTime=08162019130530

  6. InitLogging Send the command, “#iiInitLogging”. The terminal will say “This command will initialize memory repeat command to confirm:”. Send the command “#iiInitLogging” again. This command will start the SeaBird’s logging during autonomous sampling to restart at the beginning of its memory. Again, ii is the instrument ID.

  7. Set Sample Interval Send the command “#iiSampleInterval=x” where, again, ii is the instrument ID and x is the time in between samples during autonomous sampling. This value is in seconds. To set a device with ID 06 to have a sampling interval of 10 minutes, send the command #06SampleIntervel=600 For all of the SeaBirds being deployed during this project, the sample interval should be set to 10 minutes or 600 seconds.

  8. Set StartDateTime In order to control the time and date in which the SeaBird begins autonomous sampling, SeaBird allows for a delayed starting DateTime to be set. Send the command “#iiStartDateTime=mmddyyyyhhmmss”. The once the SeaBird is set to autonomously sample, it will begin sampling when the internal clock reaches this set DateTime. To set an instrument with ID 06 to begin sampling on August 17, 2019 at 15:20:45, send the command #06StartDateTime=08172019152045

  9. Set instrument to start sampling autonomously at the specified DateTime Send the command “#iiStartLater”. This will tell the SeaBird to begin Autonomous Sampling at the specified DareTime with a Sampling interval set in step 7.

NOTE: Once this command is sent, the SeaBird does not allow commands to be sent which change the Autonomous Sampling setup. In order to change this setup after the command “#iiStartLater” has been sent, you must send the command “#iiStop”. Change the configuration and then resend “#iiStartLater”.

  1. Disconnect the tester/setup box Once the deployment is setup on the instrument, you can remove the short piece of mooring line from the instrument’s IM coupler. The instrument is now ready to be attached to the mooring line which will be deployed.

Aquadopp

Nortek Aquadopp Current Profiler Deployment Setup

What you’ll need: Aquadopp Current Profiler Windows computer with AquadoppDW.exe installed Serial Cable for Aquadopp

Procedure:

  1. Connect the serial cable to both the instrument and the Windows computer.
  2. Establish connection between Aquadopp and computer. Open Aquadopp DW. In the ‘Communications’ menu, select ‘Serial Port’. Specify which COM port you want to use and set the Baud rate to 9600. In the ‘Communications’ menu, press ‘Connect’ to verify that the instrument can connect over serial communication.
  3. Erase Stored Data In the ‘Deployment’ menu, click ‘Erase Recorder’. This ensures that all of the instrument’s storage is free.
  4. Setup the deployment file. Under the ‘Deployment’ menu, go to ‘Planning’ and then click ‘Load From Instrument’. The Settings in Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the settings you should input for Aquadopp deployment. The relevant settings are: Measurement Interval = 3600 s Average Interval = 60 s Measurement load set to Auto Coordinate set to ENU File Wrapping is enabled Diagnostics is disabled Speed of sound is measured Enable IMM is checked Transmit power level is set to HIGH Data Format is set to ASCII The Device ID should be set in the range of 20 to 28. If deployed with AMIGOS Box A, the ID’s of the two Aquadopps should be set to 20 and 21. For AMIGOS box B, the two Aquadopps should be set to 22 and 23. For AMIGOS Box C, the four Aquadopps should have ID’s 24, 25, 26, and 27.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R4SaIDyE0Y58XSmgfrpYMu0XsQCFdsr3/view?usp=sharing

Figure 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wgk07644IJOBLonCmquScKXFBpDc0W1X/view?usp=sharing

Figure 2

Once the Deployment Plan is correct, click ‘Apply’ and then click ‘OK.

  1. Start Aquadopp deployment Under the ‘Deployment’ menu, select ‘Start Recorder Deployment’. The first window that appears asks for the time at which the deployment should start. Set the date and time that you would like for the instrument to begin taking readings. This window will also require a name for the deployment. It is up to you whether or not you would like to save the deployment file. The next window sets the Instrument’s internal clock. It would be most convenient to set each Aquadopp to the computer’s time. This will ensure that all of the instruments’ clocks are synced to the same time before deployment. After setting the clocks, the instrument will attempt to run through impedance tests for the IM communication line. Follow the instructions that appear. Check to confirm that all of you chosen settings are the way you want them and click ‘Confirm’. The instrument is now set for deployment. Remove the serial connection from both the computer and the instrument.

Example deployment IMM Configuration

> getCD
<ConfigurationData DeviceType='SBE90554 IMM' SerialNumber='70005486'>
<Settings ConfigType='2'
DebugLevel='2'
BaudRate='9600'
HostID='Host ID not set'
GdataStr='GDATA'
HostPrompt='x'
ModemPrompt='IMM>'
DeviceID='86'
EnableHostFlagWakeup='0'
EnableHostFlagConfirm='0'
EnableHostFlagTerm='0'
EnableSerialIMMWakeup='1'
EnableHostPromptConfirm='1'
EnableHostServeOnPwrup='1'
EnableAutoIMFlag='1'
EnablePrompt='0'
EnableHostWakeupCR='1'
EnableHostWakeupBreak='0'
EnableEcho='0'
EnableSignalDetector='1'
EnableToneDetect='0'
EnableFullPwrTX='0'
EnableBackSpace='1'
EnableGDataToSample='0'
EnableStripHostEcho='0'
EnableBinaryData='1'
SerialType='1'
TermToHost='254'
TermFromHost='254'
SerialBreakLen='5'
MaxNumSamples='40'
GroupNumber='0'
THOST0='0'
THOST1='5'
THOST2='1000'
THOST3='12000'
T
HOST4='500'
THOST5='5'
TMODEM2='500'
TMODEM3='18000'
TMODEM4='100'
/>
</ConfigurationData>
<Executed/>
Clone this wiki locally