
     The S87 data format was developed to standardize the handling of ascii
station data.  The main parts of the S87 format file are the header line
containing all pertinent station information, an id line with two character
minimum mnemonics describing the data in the columns below and the data, the
first two characters being unique.

     The first line must be the header line and contain all the information
needed to identify the station, as described below:

TPPCC SSSS CC SDD.DDDD SDDD.DDDD YY/MM/DD YDA HH:MM  CRUISE_ID

		T  -  data type (C: ctd, B: bottle, A: axbt, X: xbt)

		PP - NODC platform code

		CC - NODC country code of the platform

		SSSS - station number

		CC - cast number

		SDD.DDDD - latitude in decimal degrees (S; sign, + optional)

		SDDD.DDDD - longitude in decimal degrees

		YY/MM/DD - date, year/month/day

		YDA - year-day for year of collection

		HH:MM - time, hour:minutes

		CRUISE_ID - optional cruise identifier, one word


     Following the header line can be an optional secondary header line for
other cast information.  There may also be an optional line describing important
physical characteristics at the station location.  This line must begin with the
character '&' in the first column.  These mnemonics are: CS for PC02 insitu,
CL for PC02 at lab T (15 degrees C), TC for total C02, TK for total Alkalinity,
ZZ for bottom depth in meters, ZM for distance from bottom, SS for bucket
surface salinity, TA for air temperature in degrees C, PA for air pressure in
millibars (hectopascals), TS for bucket surface temperature  in degrees C,
WS for wind speed in meters per second, and WD for wind direction in degrees.
Fields are separated by tabs or spaces.  A line to denote this would be:

&ZZ=4766 TA=-4.2 PA=0990 WS=0.6 WD=122


     There may be as many comment lines as desired that do not start with
an '&' or an '@'.  It is suggested that any program used to create or modify
an s87 format file add a new line with the date, user name, the program name
and the input file name.

     The column identification line contains mnemonics of at least two unique
characters that identify the data in the columns below.  This line must start
with an '@' in the first column.  A list of present id's is included below.
Tabs are used to separate mnemonics and data columns to conserve disk space
(it is suggested that the %g format specifier be used when rewriting data to
kill trailing 0's).
Regretfully, fortran programs do not accept tabs.


	1s	freon-11 saturation (see f1)
	2s	freon-12 saturation (see f2)

	AG	adiabatic temperature gradient
	AN	specific volume anomaly

	BU	buffer count
	BV	Brunt Vaisalla frequency

	C3	delta C-13
	C4	Delta C-14
	CA	chlorophyll a
	CC	total CO2 by gas cromatograph
	CL	pCO2 @ lab temperature
	CO	conductivity
	CS	pCO2 @ insitu temperature

	DE	depth (meters)
	DF	density flux
	DO	delta_oc/delta_t
	DR	density ratio

	F1	freon 11 (see 1s)
	F2	freon 12 (see 2s)
	FL	flags (from ctd78 format)
	FR	freon ratio
	FS	freon saturation

	GV	geostrophic velocity

	HE	helium
	HZ	dynamic height

	IT	ice thickness (cm)

	LT	percent of light transmitted through water

	N2	nitrite (stability)
	N3	nitrate (nitrite + nitrate)
	NH	ammonia

	OC	oxygen current
	OS	% oxygen saturation
	OT	oxygen temperature
	OX	oxygen (ml/l)

	PA	air pressure
	PH	pH
	PO	phosphate
	PR	pressure (decibars)
	PT	potential temperature

	RH	rosette potential temperature (rosette salinity and ctd temp)
	RN	record number (bottle number)
	RO	rosette oxygen
	RP	rosette pressure
	RS	rosette salinity
	RT	rosette temperature

	S0	sigma theta
	S1	sigma 1
	S2	sigma 2
	S3	sigma 3
	S4	sigma 4
	SA	salinity
	SE	sea state
	SI	silicate
	ST	sigma t
	SV	sound velocity (also VE)
	SW	swell

	T1	tritium (TU)
	T2	tritium (TU-81)
	TA	air temperature
	TC	total CO2 by titration
	TE	temperature
	TF	temperature above freezing
	TG	temperature gradient
	TI	time
	TK	total alkalinity (titration)

	VE	sound velocity (also SV)

	WD	wind direction
	WE	weather
	WS	wind speed (m/s)

	ZM	distance off bottom (meters)
	ZZ	bottom depth (meters)




this file is /turf/ouzel/fizocean/docs/s87.doc

  --------

ADDENDUM

The above information was obtained from Lamont-Doherty Earth Institute
in 1994.  As currently used at SFRI the data format is not strictly S87
format. Several possibly fatal shortcuts have been taken through
expedience, ignorance and laziness. 

- The records are not strictly kept to 64 columns wide. Records are not
  padded with blank characters.

- The cruise identifier field in the first record is not always one word.

- The data type FL has been taken away from flags and give to fluorescence.

- The data type LT has been taken to mean the ratio of subsurface light to 
  surface light

- The following additional data types have been used or redefined :

  DS -
  FL -	Fluorescence
  FU - 
  LS -	Surface light
  LT -	Light ratio
  LU -	Light sensor
  MS -  Mean salinity
  MT -  Mean tempoerature
  NU -  Number of observations
  O2 -  Oxygen concentration
  SC -  Scan number 
  SN -  Scan number
  TR -  Transmittance (transmissometer)
  VS -  Variance in salinity
  VT -  Variance in temperature
  WO -	Wire out

Platform identifiers for South Africa are 91??

91AE - Africana I (unfortunately also been used for the latest Africana)
91AF - Africana II
9191 - Aircraft
91BA - Bellatrix
91BB - Benguela
91DB - Drifting buoy
91FS - Fixed stations
91FR - Fraay R/K
91FH - Frank Harvey
91JG - J.D. Gilchrist
91KU - Kunene
91LT - Lady Theresa
91MN - Meiring Naude
9190 - Multiple ships
91NA - Natal
91PA - Palinurus
91PI - Pickle
91PR - Protea
91RA - RFA
91AA - S.A. Agulhas
91CA - S.A. Constantia
91SG - S.A. Sederberg
91WB - S.A. Waterberg
91SA - Sardinops
91SC - Schipa
91DT - Thomas B. Davie R/V
91TR - Trachurus
9199 - UNKNOWN
91VC - Victory
91VR - Vrystaat


Added: 2000/07/12 CMDR


