Key Activities

What We Do

• Compile and disseminate information on standards, protocols, quality assurance (QA) procedures, and best practices.
• Define the need for standards with respect to sensors used in systems in the marine environment.
• Solicit information on standards from the ocean engineering and oceanographic communities. 
• Establishing working groups to develop new standards for the ocean domain

Who We Work With

• Manufacturers of ocean instruments
• Ocean Observing Network operators and users
• Ocean Best Practices System
• IEEE Systems Council Standards
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
• International Organisation for Standardization (ISO)
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• British Standards Institute (BSI)

Comparability and Qualification

Standards ensure that products and services are on a level playing field, making them comparable in their functional scope.

Manufacturers can only claim a specific level of accuracy for their instruments when they have been rigorously tested using equivalent methods. This fosters transparency, allowing consumers to make informed decisions based on a common benchmark.

Interoperability and Compatibility

Standards are essential for ensuring that data collected in different parts of the world can be seamlessly integrated and analyzed. They provide a common language that allows disparate systems to work together cohesively.

Overcoming Disparate Operating Procedures

Different ocean-observing networks often operate with varying procedures. Standards help bridge these gaps by creating a unified framework. This reduces confusion and enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of these networks. Ultimately, it leads to more reliable and comprehensive data collection.

Equation of State of Seawater

The equation of state of seawater is a function from which the thermodynamic properties of seawater can be derived mathematically.

IOC, SCOR and IAPSO, “The international thermodynamic equation of seawater – 2010: Calculation and use of thermodynamic properties,” Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Manuals and Guides No. 56, UNESCO (English), 196 pp.

This is available for free download at http://www.teos-10.org/pubs/TEOS-10_Manual.pdf

Calculators of Water Properties

Several calculators are published on the National Physical Laboratory website [www.npl.co.uk].

Speed of sound in pure water [http://resource.npl.co.uk/acoustics/techguides/soundpurewater/]

Speed of sound in seawater [http://resource.npl.co.uk/acoustics/techguides/soundseawater/]

Absorption of sound in water [http://resource.npl.co.uk/acoustics/techguides/seaabsorption/]

Quality Assurance of Real-Time Ocean Data (QARTOD)

QARTOD is an endeavor by the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Office to establish quality-assurance and quality-control procedures for a number of oceanographic variables.

Examples include manuals on the real-time quality control of dissolved nutrients observations, dissolved oxygen observations in coastal oceans, in-situ current observations, in-situ temperature and salinity data, in-situ surface wave data, ocean optics data, water level data, wind data.

The following website is a source of information on QARTOD.

Marine Environmental Data and Information Network

Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) is a partnership of UK organisations, aimed at improving access to marine data.

Data types include bathymetry, human impact, marine archaeology, marine biodiversity, marine chemistry, marine geology and geophysics, and physical oceanography.

More information can be found at http://www.oceannet.org/

Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigation Program (GO-SHIP)

The Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigation Program, abbreviated GO-SHIP, aims ‘to develop a globally coordinated network of sustained hydrographic sections as part of the global ocean/climate observing system’ [http://www.go-ship.org/index.html].

Its principal areas of interest are the carbon cycle, hydrography, marine biogeochemistry and ecosystems, and physical oceanography.

Guidelines on the collections of hydrographic data are provided in the ‘GO-SHIP Repeat Hydrography Manual: A Collection of Expert Reports and Guidelines’, IOCCP Report No. 14, ICPO Publication Series No. 134, Version 1 (2010) [http://www.go-ship.org/HydroMan.html].

Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL)

Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level is the global data bank for long-term sea level change information from tide gauges and bottom pressure recorders [http://www.psmsl.org/].

Detailed information is given about sea level measurement, as in the IOC Manuals and Guides No. 14. In Volume I [http://www.psmsl.org/train_and_info/training/manuals/ioc_14i.pdf].

International standard for calibration of hydrophones:

IEC60565:2006, Underwater acoustics – Hydrophones – Calibration in the frequency range 0.01 Hz to 1 MHz, IEC 60565-2006.

ISO Technical Committee 43, Sub-Committee 3 (ISO TC43 SC3) covers underwater acoustics, and has produced a Publically Available Specification (PAS) covering the topic of measurement of ship noise in deep water:

ISO/PAS 17208-1:2012, Acoustics – Quantities and procedures for description and measurement of underwater sound from ships.

Part 1: General requirements for measurements in deep water.

Standards covering definitions and terminology produced by IEC and ISO include;

IEC 60050:1994, International Electrotechnical Vocabulary, part 801: Acoustics Electroacoustics, (section 801-32 covers terms for underwater acoustics).

IEC 60260:1995, Electroacoustics – Octave-band and fractional-octave band filters.

ISO 80000-8: 2007, Quantities and units – part 8: Acoustics.

ISO/TR 25417:2007, Acoustics – Definitions of basic quantities and terms.

Access the standards from the ISO web-store at: http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html
or the IEC web-store at: http://www.iec.ch/

ANSI standards relevant to underwater acoustic measurement:

ANSI S12.64-2009/Part 1, Quantities and Procedures for Description and Measurement of Underwater Sound from Ships – Part 1: General Requirements.

ANSI S1.20-2012, Procedures for Calibration of Underwater Electroacoustic Transducers.

ANSI S12.64 was the document upon which ISO/PAS 17208-1:2012 was based, and ANSI S1.20 provides a broader coverage than IEC 60565 as it considers the calibration of other types of electroacoustic transducers beyond hydrophones.

ANSI S1.20 also provides information on a standard-target method for calibrating active sonars. These documents are available at: http://webstore.ansi.org.

Standard procedures for calibrating electroacoustic transducers used in transmission or in reception are presented in the following standard

ANSI/ASA S1.20-2012, “American National Standard: Procedures for calibration of underwater electroacoustic transducers” (Acoustical Society of America, Melville, NY, 2012).

This is available at http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI%2fASA+S1.20-2012 (last viewed 29 July 2013).

Principles for calibrating active sonars used for echo measurement are presented in Appendix F of the same reference. This is the standard-target method developed initially for calibrating scientific echo sounders at sea (Foote 1982) and wideband echo measurements in a laboratory tank (Dragonette et al. 1981).

Guidelines for calibrating scientific echo sounders by the standard-target method

G.Foote, H. P. Knudsen, G. Vestnes, D. N. MacLennan, and E. J. Simmonds, “Calibration of acoustic instruments for fish density estimation: A practical guide,” ICES Coop. Res. Rep., 144, (1987), 69 pp.

This is available for free download at: http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Cooperative%20Research%20Report%20%28CRR%29/crr144/crr144.pdf(last viewed 29 July 2013).

Applications of the standard-target method span the total frequency range from 1 kHz to more than 1 MHz.

International hydrophone calibration standard:

IEC 60565:2006, Underwater acoustics – Hydrophones – Calibration in the frequency range 0.01 Hz to 1 MHz, IEC 60565-2006.

This standard is available from the IEC web-store at: http://www.iec.ch/.

ANSI Calibration Standard:

ANSI S1.20-2012, Procedures for Calibration of Underwater Electroacoustic Transducers.

ANSI S1.20 provides a broader coverage than IEC 60565 as it considers the calibration of other types of electroacoustic transducers. ANSI S1.20 also provides information on a standard-target method for calibrating active sonars. This document is available at: http://webstore.ansi.org.

Hydrophone usage guidelines

There are practical considerations about electrical loading, mounting, and wetting, for which guidelines have been prepared. Links are provided in the following.

Hydrophone electrical loading corrections [http://resource.npl.co.uk/acoustics/techguides/loading/]

Hydrophone mounting [http://www.npl.co.uk/acoustics/underwater-acoustics/research/hydrophone-mounting]

Hydrophone wetting [http://www.npl.co.uk/acoustics/underwater-acoustics/research/hydrophone-wetting]