Data Analysis

CTD and image data are processed immediately after each tow. Navigation data depends on what the scientist using the system has configured, normally this is either layback from the ship's GPS navigation, or where TowCam is used in a LBL transponder network, a file of the LBL navigation versus time. Acquisition and processing of those data is the responsibility of the scientist in charge.

CTD data processing consists of converting the created data files to ascii text files. This is done easily and efficiently using scripts set up by the WHOI TowCam team which take the SeaBird hexadecimal files and convert them to text files containing: the CTD data at 1 Hz (CTD.txt), the CTD data for each time a photograph was taken (flash.txt), and a file with the CTD data each time a bottle or corer was fired (bottle.txt).

Images from the DSPL digital camera are 2048x1536 pixels. The images are batch renamed with the time of the shot as the name in the format "yyyy-mm-dd-hh:mm:ss" and are converted from native Nikon format to jpeg (.JPG) files. The images can then batch enhanced using a program such as Photoshop or  ACDSee.

Normally, if there is time, the TowCam engineer can make QT movies of the tow's imagery and html thumbnail pages for easy review of the data.