Project Deliverable D50 Report on Best Practices ... - ESONET NoE

The generic sensor should be available to a very wide group with as little effort as possible
with respect to purchasing and operating the sensor. Thus, commercially available sensors
that reliably measure over a long period of time are the most suitable sensors to be used in a
generic sense. In this respect, a platinum resistance thermometer (PRT) linked to a simple
logging unit is possibly the most generic sensor. Systems that combine these thermometers
with other basic sensors are already available from several companies in several countries and
are frequently used in the scientific community. These are multi-probe, CTD-type
(conductivity temperature, and depth [pressure]) systems which often come with a basic set of
sensors and possibilities to add a wide variety of other sensors. The advantage of such
systems is that data acquisition modules and power supply units already provide basic
compliance with existing standards.
The generic variables cover several of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
Essential Climate Variables to contribute to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and the IPCC. Continued interest for these variables is noted in the
proceedings of the OceanObs’09 Conference (www.OceanObs09.net). To account for the
different research areas and needs outlined in the scientific objectives of ESONET, a first list
of sensors/variables has been compiled based on the criteria “most commonly needed",
"availability", "ease of use", “deep sea compatible” and "capability for long-term monitoring
(corrosion, calibration periodicity, stability…)" of the water column (Table 1). The presented
list shows basically a CTD configuration plus a few additional variables. These operation of
these sensors will need to meet some basic criteria (Table 2) which are currently met by a
variety of manufacturers (Table 3, This table will be updated as more options are identified).
Table 1. GCOS Essential Climate Variables.
Surface Sub-surface
Sea-surface temperature Temperature
Sea-surface salinity Salinity
Sea level Current
Sea state (how is this quantified?) Nutrients
Sea ice Carbon (what types?)
Current Ocean tracers (which ones?)
Ocean colour (for biological activity) Phytoplankton (via Chl-alone?)
Carbon dioxide partial pressure
<strong>Deliverable</strong> #50 - update October 2010 17