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    SEABIRD Pumped-Flow CTD

    Uploaded by

    Yih Yang
    This technical note discusses characterizing sensor response time and the benefits of using a TC duct and pump-controlled flow. It explains that real sensors have response lag, so temperature and conductivity sensors on a CTD may not measure the same water parcel. This can cause artificial spikes in derived parameters like salinity and density. A TC duct and pump help ensure temperature and conductivity are measured on the same parcel and their response times are constant and synchronized, reducing spiking in derived parameters without loss of resolution from data averaging. The TC duct introduces a fixed 0.073 second delay between the temperature and conductivity sensors, which is automatically corrected for.

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    SEABIRD Pumped-Flow CTD

    Uploaded by

    Yih Yang
    23 views2 pages
    This technical note discusses characterizing sensor response time and the benefits of using a TC duct and pump-controlled flow. It explains that real sensors have response lag, so temperature and conductivity sensors on a CTD may not measure the same water parcel. This can cause artificial spikes in derived parameters like salinity and density. A TC duct and pump help ensure temperature and conductivity are measured on the same parcel and their response times are constant and synchronized, reducing spiking in derived parameters without loss of resolution from data averaging. The TC duct introduces a fixed 0.073 second delay between the temperature and conductivity sensors, which is automatically corrected for.

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    SEABIRD pumped-flow CTD

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    This technical note discusses characterizing sensor response time and the benefits of using a TC duct and pump-controlled flow. It explains that real sensors have response lag, so temperature and conductivity sensors on a CTD may not measure the same water parcel. This can cause artificial spikes in derived parameters like salinity and density. A TC duct and pump help ensure temperature and conductivity are measured on the same parcel and their response times are constant and synchronized, reducing spiking in derived parameters without loss of resolution from data averaging. The TC duct introduces a fixed 0.073 second delay between the temperature and conductivity sensors, which is automatically corrected for.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    23 views2 pages

    SEABIRD Pumped-Flow CTD

    Uploaded by

    Yih Yang
    This technical note discusses characterizing sensor response time and the benefits of using a TC duct and pump-controlled flow. It explains that real sensors have response lag, so temperature and conductivity sensors on a CTD may not measure the same water parcel. This can cause artificial spikes in derived parameters like salinity and density. A TC duct and pump help ensure temperature and conductivity are measured on the same parcel and their response times are constant and synchronized, reducing spiking in derived parameters without loss of resolution from data averaging. The TC duct introduces a fixed 0.073 second delay between the temperature and conductivity sensors, which is automatically corrected for.

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    Technical Note

    Characterizing Sensor Response Time


    Benefits of using a TC Duct and Pump-Controlled Flow
    April 2020
    A 2-Box Model
    Sensors do not react infinitely quickly to a
    new environmental condition. You can visualize this
    with a hypothetical 2-box ocean (Figure 1). In the
    model, all of the water in the top box is 20°C while
    the water in the bottom box is 0°C. Assume salinity
    is homogeneous across both boxes. If a profiling
    CTD descended from the top box to the bottom box,
    an ideal sensor would register the instantaneous
    change from 20° to 0 °C. Plotting these data would
    show a sharp horizontal drop in temperature and
    Figure 1: a 2-box temperature model
    conductivity when the sensor passed from the top
    box to the bottom box. Furthermore, there would be no artificial spike in parameters like salinity
    and density that are derived from T and C measured by the sensors (Figure 2).
    However, all real sensors have some degree of lag between their ideal and actual response,
    known as the sensor’s response time. Plotting data at sharp gradients (such as the transition
    from the top box to the bottom box) reveals visible delays caused by the sensor’s response
    time, where temperature and conductivity measured by the CTD takes time to “catch up” to the
    actual environmental change induced by the gradient. For calculated parameters, a mismatch
    in the conductivity and temperature response time generates an artificial spike, as each sensor
    “catches up” at
    different speeds,
    so mismatched
    values are used
    in the calculation
    of a single value
    (e.g. salinity or
    density).

    Figure 2: the ideal sensor response to a rapid temperature change (left) compared the a
    typical response (right)

    +1 425 643 9466 | seabird.com


    Physically Controlling Response Time: TC Duct and Pump-
    Controlled Flow
    Many CTD probes fail to measure C and T on the same water parcel because the C and T
    sensors are physically separated, or because the C and T sensors have different response times.
    Furthermore, the response time of their conductivity cells depends on the CTD drop rate, with
    more time required to fill the cells at slower speeds. Unless the CTD profiling speed is known
    and constant (it almost never is constant because of ship motion), the response time of these
    systems’ conductivity cells will be continuously changing, and serious spiking will result.
    To reduce salinity and density spiking to the lowest possible level without loss of resolution
    caused by data averaging, Sea-Bird Scientific uses a TC duct and a pump. These two features
    ensure that the measurement of temperature and conductivity are made on the same parcel of
    water as follows:
    • TC duct: All the water sensed by both the temperature and conductivity cell must pass
    through a single small (0.4 cm) diameter opening.
    • Pump: The electronically controlled pump
    forces the seawater to flow at a constant 30
    cm3/second to ensure that the C - T time
    responses are constant.
    The physical arrangement of the Sea-Bird T and C
    sensors with TC duct is shown in Figure 3.
    1. As the CTD descends, water is taken in at the
    duct opening (the opening points downward)
    and its temperature is immediately sensed.
    2. After a small time delay of 0.073 seconds
    during which the water flows through the
    duct, the water enters the conductivity cell.
    The 0.073-second delay is constant because
    the pumping speed is fixed.
    3. This delay is automatically corrected in real-
    time by the SBE 11plus Deck Unit or afterwards
    in post-processing.
    Note that the downward exhaust of the pumped
    water (Figure 4) eliminates any ram effect that
    would cause the flow rate to be affected by
    profiling speed.
    The constant flow rate of the pump provides
    a consistent response time from the conductivity
    sensor, and the TC Duct provides a known delay
    between the temperature sensor and conductivity Figure 3 (top): A diagram of the TC duct
    Figure 4 (bottom): A typical CTD flow path
    sensor.
    +1 425 643 9466 | seabird.com

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