Development and Testing of the AXBT Real-Time Editing System (ARES)
Name
atot-jtech-d-20-0110.1.pdf
Size
1.64 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
29b5535f65357b709d47658e3512873f
Author(s)
Densmore, Casey
Jayne, Steven
Sanabia, Elizabeth
Date Issued
January 5, 2021
Journal
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Citation
Densmore, C. R., S. R. Jayne, and E. R. Sanabia, 2021: Development and Testing of the AXBT Real-Time Editing System (ARES). J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 38, 3–16.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Airborne expendable bathythermographs (AXBTs) are air-launched, single-use temperature-depth probes that telemeter temperature observations as VHF-modulated frequencies. This study describes the AXBT Real-Time Editing System (ARES), which is composed of two components: the ARES Data Acquisition System, which receives telemetered temperature-depth profiles with no external hardware other than a VHF radio receiver, and the ARES Profile Editing System, which quality controls AXBT temperature-depth profiles. The ARES Data Acquisition System performs fast Fourier transforms on windowed segments of the demodulated signal transmitted from the AXBT. For each segment, temperature is determined from peak frequency and depth from elapsed time since profile start. Valid signals are distinguished from noise by comparing peak signal levels and signal-to-noise ratios to predetermined thresholds. When evaluated using 387 profiles, the ARES Data Acquisition System produced temperature-depth profiles nearly identical to those generated using a Sippican MK-21 processor, while reducing the amount of noise from VHF interference included in those profiles. The ARES Profile Editor applies a series of automated checks to identify and correct common profile discrepancies before displaying the profile on an editing interface that provides simple user controls to make additional corrections. When evaluated against 1177 tropical Atlantic and Pacific AXBT profiles, the ARES automated quality control system successfully corrected 87% of the profiles without any required manual intervention. Necessary future work includes improvements to the automated quality control algorithm and algorithm evaluation against a broader dataset of temperaturedepth profiles from around the world across all seasons.
Subjects
Ocean
In situ oceanic observations
Profilers, oceanic
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH-D-20-0110.1
