EXPLANATION OF OCEANOGRAPHIC STATION DATA 



A. General 



Each of the items appearing on the data pages is explained below. 

 The vertical arrows shown in some of the column headings indicate the 

 location of decimal points. The presence of asterisks to the left of 

 data indicates those data are doubtful; hence, they were not used in 

 the construction of the curve from which interpolated values (standard 

 depth values) were derived. Observed values which were obviously 

 invalid were omitted entirely. 



B. Surface Observations 



1. Reference Number . This number is arbitrarily assigned. It 

 identifies the data and provides a means of sorting from the IBM files 

 all cards pertaining to that particular project. The reference number 

 is also presented on the flysheet for the tabulated oceanographic data. 



2. Station Number. Stations are numbered to designate a certain 

 station location; however, stations are presented in the chronological 

 order in which they were occupied. 



3. Date. Month, day and year are given in Arabic numerals. The 

 hour is Greenwich Mean Time and is that hour nearest to the messenger 

 time of the first cast. 



4. Latitude and Longitude . The position of the station is given 

 in degrees and minutes. 



5. Sonic Depth . Sonic Depth is the uncorrected sounding for the 

 station, recorded in meters. 



6. Maximum Sample Depth. The maximum depth from which a water 

 sample was obtained at the station is given to the nearest 100 meters. 



7. Wind. Wind speed is given in meters per second. Direction 

 from which the wind blows is coded in degrees true to the nearest ten 

 degrees. The last zero is omitted. North is 36 on this scale and 

 calm is 0. See Table 1, Compass Direction Conversion Table for Wind, 

 Sea, and Swell Directions. 



8. Anemometer Height . The height of the anemometer above the 

 water line is given in meters. 



9. Air Pressure . Barometric pressure is coded in millibars, 

 neglecting the 900 or 1000. Thus, 996 millibars is coded as 96 and 

 1008 millibars is coded as 08. 



10. Air Temperature. Dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures are 

 entered to the nearest tenth of a degree (Celsius). A negative tem- 

 perature is coded by dropping the minus sign and adding 50, thus -10 

 is coded as 60. 



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