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"ICES Oceanographic Format"

Introduction

The following pages provide a detailed description of the formats used by
ICES for the exchange of oceanographic (water bottle or CTD) station data.
Submitters of data should, if at all possible, use either of the formats
described here. Receivers of data from ICES will receive it in only the
first described format, the ICES Oceanographic 'punch card' format but
software is normally supplied with any request to help the user read data
sets prepared in this format, including an export facility to data bases and
spreadsheets. The user should note that this format has been modified from
that published by ICES in 1979 in several important respects. In particular
provision was made to include position information to .01 of a degree, and
time to the nearest minute. Other changes include a re-definition of the >
(greater than) overpunch in the nutrient fields (type '56' chemistry record
was replaced by type '76') and record type 'P6' was introduced to
accommodate the very high nutrient levels reported from some coastal
regions. In both of these record types chlorophyll 'a' is stored to only one
decimal place (the '56' record type was 2 decimal places).

From early 1994, additional features were added to the format (03 record) to
accommodate extra decimal places common in CTD records. This affected only
columns previously used for derived quantities (sigma-t, dynamic depth).

For data received after ca 1997 parameters not supported by the above record
types were included by the inclusion of the '0Z' record (Additional
Parameter Record). This record type allows for any number of parameters, so
long as it is specifified in the BODC/JGOFS data dictionary.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

ICES Format Specification

HYDROMASTER RECORD

Position 79-80 = "0J"

PositionParameter    Description

01-02 Country        Coded according to IOC country codes.
03-04 Ship           Coded as either ICES code (purely
                     numerical code see ICES ships code
                     list) or as NODC ship code
                     (alphanumeric code).
05-08 Station No.    Station number within a given year
                     start counting one at the 1 Jan 0000
                     Hrs UTC.
09-12 Latitude       Geographical latitude in degrees and
                     minutes (decimals given later).
13-17 Longitude      Geographical longitude in degrees and
                     minutes (decimals given later).
18    Quadrant       Indicator of quadrant on globe:
                     0 = Latitude North Longitude East
                     1 = Latitude North Longitude West
                     2 = Latitude South Longitude East
                     3 = Latitude South Longitude West
                     0 Latitude is defined as being North
                     0 Longitude is defined as being East
                     180 Longitude is defined as being West
                     North, South relative to the equator
                     East, West relative to Greenwich
                     meridian
19-21 Year           Number of the year - 1000
22-23 Month          Number of the month within a year
24-25 Day            Number of the day within a month
26-27 Time           Starting time of hydrographic station
                     in UTC (minutes given later).
28-31 Depth          Corrected depth to bottom in meters
32-45 None           Reserved (usually specifies origin of
                     data)
46-64 None           Weather information (rarely used in
                     recent data)
65-66 Latitude ct'd  Decimals of Latitude minutes
67-68 Longitude ct'd Decimals of Longitude minutes
69-70 Time ct'd      Minutes of time
71-74 None           Reserved
75-77 Secchi         Secchi Disk Depth (metre, 1 implied decimal)
78    None
79    Indicator      Always "0" (Zero)
80    Record Type    Always "J" (Juliett)

HYDROGRAPHY RECORD

Position 80-80 = "3"

Position Parameter   Description

01-27 Parameter      Copy of contents of positions 01-27 in
                     the Hydromaster record.
28-31 Depth/Pressure Depending on value in column 41 (d/p): depth (meters)
                     or Pressure (decibar).No implied decimals (but see 41-49)
32-35 Temperature    Temperature given in degrees Celsius (C)
                     2 implied decimal places
                     Negative temperatures are indicated by
                     "}" (Closing Brace) in field 32
36-40 Salinity       Salinity given in PSS-78 scale for post-1978 data
                     3 implied decimal places
41-41 d/p            Specifies whether pressure (p) or depth(d). If
                     field not 'p' or 'd', then depth (meters) assumed.
42-49 CTD Decimals   Depending on  a 'p' or 'd' in column 41 then 42-
                     43 is extra decimal places for pressure
                     (p), or depth (d),45-46 is extra decimal places for
                     temperature; 48-49 is extra decimal
                     places for salinity
                     (historical data sets may have sigma-t in 41-45)
50-57 Unused         or derived quantities
58-60 Oxygen         Oxygen content. Given in cm3 02 / dm3
                     (if position 78 = "K" then /kg)
                     water at STP 2 implied decimals
61-64 None           Reserved for derived quantities
65-76 None           Reserved
77    Method         Method of salinity determination
                     1 = Titration by routine method
                     2 = Titration by special precision method
                     3 = Conductivity method precision (<)= 0.01
                     4 = Conductivity method precision (>) 0.01
78Unit Indicator     Not K = Oxygen in cm3/dm3 (per volume)
                     K     = Oxygen in cm3/kg  (per mass)
79Indicator          Indicator for interpolation with depth
                     0 = No interpolation, T and S observed
                     1 = Both T and S have been interpolated
                     8 = T has been interpolated, S observed
                     9 = T has been observed, S interpolated
80Record type        Always "3" (Three)

HYDROCHEMISTRY RECORD

(Position 79-80 = "76" or *Position 79-80 = "P6" or Position 79-80 = "56")

PositionParameter    Description
01-27 Parameter      Copy of contents of positions 01-27 in
                     the Hydromaster record.
28-31 Depth/Pressure Pressure (decibars) or Depth (meters) no implied decimals
                     Assumes unit as in "03" record above.
32-35 Temperature    Temperature Given in degrees Celsius (C)
                     2 implied decimal places
                     Negative temperatures are indicated by
                     "}" (Closing Brace) in field 32
36-39 Salinity       Salinity given in PSS-78 scale for post-1978 data.
                     2 implied decimal places
40-42 Oxygen         Oxygen contents. Given in cm3 02 / dm3
                     water at STP. 2 implied decimals
                     (If position 78 = "K" then ug/kg)
43-45 Phosphate      Phosphate phosphorus. Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     2 implied decimals  (* 1 implied decimal)
46-48 Tot.Phosphorus Total Phosphorus contents. Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     2 implied decimals (* 1 implied decimal)
49-51 Silicate       Silicate contents (Silicate Silicon).
                     Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     1 implied decimal (* 0 implied decimal)
52-54 Nitrate        Nitrate contents (Nitrate Nitrogen).
                     Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     1 implied decimal (* 0 implied decimal)
55-57 Nitrite        Nitrite contents (Nitrite Nitrogen).
                     Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     2 implied decimals (* 1 implied decimal)
58-60 Ammonium       Ammonium contents (Ammonium Nitrogen)
                     Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     1 implied decimal (* 0 implied decimal)
61-63 Tot. Nitrogen  Total nitrogen contents. Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     1 implied decimal (* 0 implied decimal)
64-66 Hydrog. Sulph. Hydrogen Sulphide contents (Sulphide
                     Sulphur).Given in mol/l.
                     (if position 78 = "K" then mol/kg)
                     1 implied decimal
67-69 pH             Hydrogen ion concentration in situ 2
                     implied decimals
70-73 Alkalinity     Alkalinity. Given in milliequivalents(millival)/dm3 water
                     at 20C.( if position 78 = "K" then meq/kg)
                     3 implied decimal places
74-76 Chlorophyll a  Chlorophyll a. Given in ug/dm3 water at
                     20C.(if position 78 = "K" then ug/kg)
                     1 implied decimal (if 56 record, 2 implied decimals)
77 None              Reserved
78 Unit Indicator    Not K = All Chemistry units in /l (per volume)
                     K     = All Chemistry units in /kg (per mass)
79Indicator          Always "7" (Seven) (or "P" in which
                     case all nutrients and H2S X10, ie decimals-1)
80Record type        Always "6" (Six)

If nitrite is not reported, but nitrate is then the value in the nitrate
field is assumed to represent nitrate + nitrite.

ADDITIONAL PARAMETER RECORD

(Position 79-80 = "0Z")

PositionParameter    Description
01-27 Parameter      Copy of contents of positions 01-27 in
                     the Hydromaster record.
28-31 Depth/Pressure Pressure (decibars) or Depth (meters) no implied decimals
                     Assumes unit as in "03" record above.
32-39 Parameter Code 8 Character Code as used by BODC in its
                     BODC/JGOFS Data Dictionary
40-49 Data Value     Value of parameter in free format. Value might
                     be expressed in scienific notation
50-78 Description    Abbreviated full name of parameter followed by units
                     (in parenthesis). Units normally expressed as given
                     in BODC/JGOFS Data Dictionary
79Indicator          Always "0" (zero)
80Record type        Always "Z" (zed)

General Rule for Coding Data into Fields (not 0Z record type)

All fields for which a value is given should be "0" (Zero) filled to the
left, fields where no value is given must be left blank. If within a field
the rightmost positions are left blank, it is assumed that the measurement
accuracy did not allow determination of this decimal position; e.g.
Temperature measured is 2.3 C the Temperature field given "023 " (Zero,
Two, Three, Blank).

Coding of values too big for Field Width and Qualifiers

In all chemistry fields, including the oxygen field in the hydrographic
record, a provision is made to accommodate values which are too big for the
field width provided. In case the e.g. oxygen exceeds the value of 9.99
cm3/dm3 you have to subtract 10.00 from the value observed, enter this new
value and recode the first digit of the field according to the conversion
for overpunch type 11 (see below). The value of 19.99 is used to indicate a
value out of range, coded as "R99" (Romeo, Nine, Nine). Hence the highest
value which can be reported is for oxygen 19.98 cm3/dm3. For substances
which are reported to only 1 decimal place, e.g. nitrate these numbers are
199.9 and 199.8 respectively.

If the value found seems unrealistic you recode the second digit in the
field according to the following scheme: 1 mapped into "J", 2 mapped into
"K" etc. Note however that "0" is mapped into asci character 153 ("}") .
This conversion is referred to overpunch type 11.

If there are traces found below the threshold of the reporting format
((<)0.01 or (<)0.1 respectively) you code "00}" (Zero, Zero, Closing Brace).

If for some reason the value can be observed only as being below a certain
threshold, this threshold value is given and the last digit is recoded
according to overpunch type 12, ie 1 mapped into "A", 2 into "B" etc and 0
into ascii character 155 ("{")

The recoding according to Table 1 of the second digit within a field applied
as well to T and S in the hydrographic records, indicating questionable
values.

The left columns in  Tables 1 and 2 show the digits to be recoded, the right
columns the replacement characters.

                                                Table 3

                             ASCII EBCDIC      ASCII EBCDIC     ASCII EBCDIC
                                                Char Value
                           Char Value Value       Value          Char Value
                                                                   Value

                           blank   32   064

                             0     48   240    }   125   208   {    123   192

                             1     49   241    J   74    209   A    65    193

                             2     50   242    K   75    210   B    66    194

                             3     51   243    L   76    211   C    67    195

                             4     52   244    M   77    212   D    68    196

                             5     53   245    N   78    213   E    69    197

                             6     54   246    O   79    214   F    70    198

                             7     55   247    P   80    215   G    71    199

                             8     56   248    Q   81    216   H    72    200

                             9     57   249    R   82    217   I    73    201

Page updated on 01 May 2000
