The computer processing of reversing thermometer data.

Abstract

The data management of reversing thermometers, which are used in oceanographic serial observation of several layers of water, consists of the following data handling processes: 1) checking calibration constants in the thermometer constants file, 2) charting a correction diagram for each of the thermometers in use, 3) correcting the thermometer reading values, 4) estimating the thermometric depth of the observed layer. processes 1) and 2) are executed in advance of the cruise. However, data processes 3) and 4) are carried out on board, and they are time consuming and laborious, especially in a rough sea, erroneous results being unavoidable. In order to reduce the data handling time on board and make it free of mistakes, and also to attain an automated data processing, a method of computer processing has been tried for the reversing thermometer data. The contents of the computer program are as follows. 1) Calculation of the thermometer correction, and finding the thermometric depth. 2〕 Drawing the temperature correcting chart with an X-Y plotter. 3) Plotting the induced thermometric depth on the L (wire length) versus L-D (wire length minus thermometric depth) graph. These programs has been already put to routine use in the reduction of the reversing thermometer data of the serial observations, and its usefulness ha been confirmed. Further improvement to the existing programs will lead to a coherent data processing, and will enable us to enrich the store of oceanographic data.