Historical Ferry Thermosalinograph (TSG) Data
In 2011, VENUS agreed to ingest and deliver historical ferry data from two separate projects that have taken thermosalinograph data ranging from December 2001 to mid-2011. Data (temperature, conductivity, salinity and at times transmission, chlorophyll) were taken along multiple ferry routes along the south coast of BC:
- Vancouver-Nanaimo (Tsawwassen-Duke Point)
- West Vancouver-Nanaimo (Horseshoe Bay – Departure Bay)
- Vancouver-Victoria (Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay)
Spirit of Vancouver Island (SOVI)
The Spirit of Vancouver Island project was created and maintained by Dr. Jim Gower from the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, BC. The thermosalinograph is located on the ferry ‘Spirit of Vancouver Island’ which does five or more crossings daily between the Swartz Bay (Victoria) ferry terminal and the Tsawwassen (Vancouver) ferry terminal. The dataset includes basic thermosalinograph data (temperature, conductivity and salinity) as well as time periods of transmission, chlorophyl and CDOM measurements. The time period of data that VENUS delivers ranges from December 2001 to April 2011 but the project is ongoing – please contact Dr. Jim Gower for data beyond April 2011.
Ferry Route: Vancouver-Victoria (Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay)
| Device Name | Device Type | DeviceId | Date Started on Site (UTC) | Date Ended on Site (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SeaBird Thermosalinograph 21 3103 | ThermoSalinograph | 22796 | 2001-03-22 12:00:00 | 2011-04-11 12:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 118 | Fluorometer | 23007 | 2003-04-30 07:00:00 2003-05-28 06:00:00 2004-10-07 06:00:00 2009-02-05 12:00:00 2009-04-10 06:00:00 |
2003-05-07 09:00:00 2003-07-16 06:31:01 2005-05-26 06:00:00 2009-02-21 21:00:00 2009-10-09 13:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 119 | Fluorometer | 23008 | 2003-07-17 06:11:05 2003-08-27 06:00:00 2003-09-12 06:00:00 2004-03-13 07:00:00 2004-06-02 06:00:00 2007-03-14 10:00:00 2008-02-16 08:00:00 |
2003-08-25 07:00:00 2003-09-10 07:00:00 2004-02-09 07:00:00 2004-05-15 06:00:00 2004-07-08 12:00:00 2008-01-09 07:00:00 2009-01-05 07:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 521 | Fluorometer | 23009 | 2002-10-31 08:00:00 | 2003-02-13 19:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 718 | Fluorometer | 23010 | 2001-12-21 09:00:00 2002-03-26 08:00:00 2002-06-12 06:00:00 2002-07-26 07:00:00 2002-10-21 06:00:00 2004-07-06 12:00:00 2004-08-29 07:00:00 2005-09-08 06:00:00 2006-04-13 08:00:00 |
2002-02-09 11:00:00 2002-06-07 06:00:00 2002-07-23 07:00:00 2002-10-19 12:00:00 2003-02-13 19:00:00 2004-07-20 06:00:00 2005-08-27 21:00:00 2006-01-03 11:00:00 2007-02-12 19:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 951 | Fluorometer | 23011 | 2005-09-08 06:00:00 2005-12-03 07:00:00 2010-02-15 10:00:00 2011-02-01 19:00:00 2011-02-11 19:00:00 |
2005-09-24 06:00:00 2006-01-03 23:00:00 2011-01-14 03:00:00 2011-02-07 16:00:00 2011-04-10 07:00:00 |
| Wetlabs CSTAR Transmissometer 216 | Transmissometer | 23012 | 2001-12-21 09:00:00 2002-03-26 08:00:00 2002-06-17 06:00:00 2002-07-26 07:00:00 2002-10-21 06:00:00 2003-04-30 07:00:00 2003-05-28 06:00:00 2003-08-27 06:00:00 2003-09-12 06:00:00 2004-03-13 07:00:00 2004-06-02 06:00:00 |
2002-02-09 11:00:00 2002-06-07 06:00:00 2002-07-23 07:00:00 2002-10-19 12:00:00 2002-10-19 12:00:00 2003-05-07 09:00:00 2003-08-25 07:00:00 2003-09-10 07:00:00 2004-02-09 07:00:00 2004-05-15 06:00:00 2004-06-29 06:00:00 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar CDOM Fluorometer 817 | Fluorometer | 23013 | 2002-07-09 06:00:00 2002-07-26 07:00:00 2003-04-30 07:00:00 2003-05-28 06:00:00 2003-08-27 06:00:00 2003-09-12 06:00:00 2004-03-13 07:00:00 |
2002-07-23 07:00:00 2002-10-19 12:00:00 2003-05-07 09:00:00 2003-08-25 07:00:00 2003-09-10 07:00:00 2004-02-09 07:00:00 2004-03-31 07:00:00 |
STRATOGEM (http://www.stratogem.ubc.ca/index.html)
The STRATOGEM project was a NSERC-funded research collaboration between scientists from the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria and the Institute of Ocean Sciences. The data range from 2003-2006 and were taken along the northern route from the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal (West Vancouver) to the Departure Bay ferry terminal (Nanaimo) as well as along the central route from Tsawwassen ferry terminal (Vancouver) to Duke Point ferry terminal (Nanaimo). The data include basic thermosalinograph data (temperature, conductivity and salinity) as well as chlorophyl data. The data were averaged and interpolated before ingestion into the DMAS database. If questions arise, please refer to the STRATOGEM web page for more information about the data.
Ferry Route: West Vancouver-Nanaimo (Horseshoe Bay – Departure Bay)
| Device Name | Device Type | DeviceId | Date Started on Site | Date Ended on Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SeaBird Thermosalinograph 45 48 | ThermoSalinograph | 22800 | 2003-03-14 | 2003-04-23 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 245 | Fluorometer | 22802 | 2003-03-14 | 2003-04-23 |
| SeaBird Thermosalinograph 45 46 | ThermoSalinograph | 22801 | 2003-05-09 | 2004-12-17 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 830 | Fluorometer | 22803 | 2003-05-09 | 2004-12-17 |
Ferry Route: Vancouver-Nanaimo (Tsawwassen-Duke Point)
| Device Name | Device Type | DeviceId | Date Started on Site | Date Ended on Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SeaBird Thermosalinograph 45 48 | ThermoSalinograph | 22800 | 2003-01-13 2003-05-09 2005-01-06 |
2003-03-11 2004-11-12 2006-11-01 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 245 | Fluorometer | 22802 | 2003-01-13 2003-05-09 2004-10-01 |
2003-03-11 2004-09-04 2006-11-01 |
| SeaBird Thermosalinograph 45 46 | ThermoSalinograph | 22801 | 2003-03-11 2004-12-18 |
2005-01-06 2005-11-12 |
| Wetlabs Wetstar Fluorometer 830 | Fluorometer | 22803 | 2003-03-11 2004-09-04 |
2003-04-22 2004-10-01 |
Available Data Formats
The historical ferry data are available from the VENUS download data page in a variety of data formats:
- Comma-separated value (CSV) format. Note: timestamps are strings as per user request
- Ocean Data View 4 (ODV) Generic Spreadsheet: Files can be loaded directly into Ocean Data View (http://odv.awi.de/)
- Matlab 7 mat-file format: Data and metadata in a Matlab structure format.
- netCDF format: Platform independent, self-describing data format that can be accessed from a variety of analysis tools.
- KML format: Files load directly into Google Earth to display surface conditions along the selected ferry route. (http://www.google.com/earth/index.html)
images display much nicer in Google Earth if the time period requested is less than one day. We have limited the time period for this data format to one week because otherwise, the data won’t make much sense visually.
Note
There may be gaps in the data set for the following reasons:
- Regular maintenance. Devices were cleaned/removed/re-installed/swapped for new instruments on a regular basis.
- Unconfirmed device. If we couldn’t confirm the device installed (by serial number) for a given time period, the data were not ingested into the VENUS archives.
- Data quality. We did not ingest some data due to data quality issues. All other data have gone through our extensive data QAQC processes and have been flagged accordingly. However, if you are using these data and find other issues, please let us know by emailing venus@uvic.ca.
