Oceanography

Instrumentation for Long-term, Stand-alone Monitoring

Oceanography

Campbell Scientific measurement and control systems provide remote unattended monitoring for a variety of oceanographic applications. Accurate measurements, proven reliability, and the ability to customise each station are a few of the features in which our systems are known.

From coastal weather stations to weather buoys to stations aboard ships, our systems are well-suited for monitoring:

  1. Coastal erosion and sedimentation
  2. Ecosystem research
  3. Ice-flow movement (GPS)
  4. Ice-load/impact monitoring
  5. Oceanographic currents
  6. Salinity and water quality studies
  7. Ship-board monitoring
  8. Structural monitoring
  9. Temperature profiles
  10. Tidal monitoring
  11. Wave height and power
  12. Weather and climate monitoring

System Benefits

  1. Measurement stations are customised to meet exact needs.
  2. Stations can measure most commercially available sensors without external signal conditioning.
  3. Communications options include satellite (Argos, OrbCom, QualComm, Inmarsat C, GOES), radio, phone, and cellphone.
  4. Stations operate reliably in harsh environments.
  5. Data Loggers provide on-site statistical and mathematical capabilities.
  6. Batteries and solar panels allow long-term, remote operation.
  7. Stations are easily expandable—add new sites or add new sensors to existing sites.
  8. Powerful software supports programming, data retrieval, and data display.

Monitoring and Control

Our monitoring systems are based around programmable data loggers that measure the sensors, then process, store, and transmit the data. The compact size, rugged design, low power use, and versatility of our data loggers allow them to be used in many applications, including integration into submerged systems. Our data loggers have wide operating temperature ranges, programmable execution intervals, and ample input channels for commonly used sensors. Most sensors interface directly to our data loggers, eliminating external signal conditioning. On-board instruction sets contain processing routines that range from simple statistics (e.g., average, maximum, minimum, standard deviation) to more complex routines (e.g., FFT, saturation vapor pressure, histogram).

Data are typically viewed and stored in the units of your choice (e.g., wind speed in mph, m/s, knots). Measurement rates and data recording intervals are independently programmable, allowing calculation of 15-minute, hourly, and daily data values from 1-minute or 1-second measurements, for example. Conditional outputs, such as wind gusts, can also be recorded. The program can be modified at any time to accommodate different sensor configurations or new data processing requirements. If needed, channel capacity can be expanded using multiplexers. All of these features allow you to meet your data requirements, whether it's storing hourly averages of meteorological data or compensating a depth sensor for depth and wave period to produce wave power spectra.

Water Quality Samplers

We offer both portable and stationary automatic water samplers for storm water, waste water, or other water quality applications. These water sampling systems use external vacuum pumps to draw water through intake tubing, instead of the traditional peristaltic pumps that induce flow by squeezing flexible tubing. Advantages of the vacuum pump method include faster water sampling rates, better vertical lifts, longer sampling distances, and less maintenance. Because the vacuum method disturbs the water samples less, they better represent the original water solution, especially if the solution has high concentrations of suspended solids.

Sensors

Almost any sensor can be measured by our data loggers, allowing systems to be customised for each site. Typical sensors used include, but are not limited to: wind speed and direction, solar radiation, temperature (air, water), relative humidity, precipitation, barometric pressure, pressure/depth (strain gage or quartz crystal), as well as flow transducers, potentiometers, load cells, accelerometers, radiometers, thermocouples, thermistors, and RTDs.

Data Retrieval

We offer multiple communication options for data retrieval, which can be mixed within the same network. Telecommunications options include satellite (Argos, OrbCom, QualComm, Inmarsat C, GOES), telephone (landline, cellular, voice-synthesized), radio, short-haul, multidrop, and ethernet. On-site options include storage module and laptop.

Software

Our PC-based support software simplifies the entire monitoring process, from programming and data retrieval to data display and analysis. Our software automatically manages data retrieval from networks or single stations. Robust error-checking ensures data integrity. We can even help you post your data to the Internet.