|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Link to Autonomous Plankton Sampler page |
||
| Datasheet (pdf) | Overview of all vehicles (pdf) | |
|
|
The
Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey managed at the Sir Alister
Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) is the largest multi-decadal
plankton monitoring programme in the world.
Data from this Survey, which commenced in 1931, has been a
consistent and frequently referenced knowledge base that has fed into
many major scientific studies, from fish stock analysis to Climate
Change Studies.
The
CPR has an extremely robust construction and its proven design allows
deployment at speed (up to 25 knots) from ships of opportunity where it
can be left unattended and recovered prior to entering port. The CPR is towed with a 10mm diameter wire rope at a depth of
typically 7 metres. Data
gathered with the CPR is compatible with the long time series survey
conducted at the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS). As the CPR is towed, water enters into a 1.27cm square aperture at the nose of the vehicle. The filtration tunnel increases in cross section to a 10.2 x 5cm filtering area, which reduces pressure to minimize damage to the captured plankton. Plankton are captured onto a continuously advancing silk gauze, which advances continuously via an external propeller, drive shaft and gear system. A second band of silk covers this, and the ‘sandwiched’ samples are advanced into a preserving tank containing formalin. A 10 mile sample will retain the organisms from approximately 3m3 of seawater irrespective of towing speed. The silk mesh size is 270mm, which is optimal for the collection of such zooplankton as copepods, cladocera, pteropods and chaetognaths, but also retain large numbers of phytoplankton. As
part of the supply of the CPR system, training is provided in both
deployment at sea and subsequent analysis within the laboratory.
This is conducted at SAHFOS premises in Plymouth, UK. |
The CPR has an extremely robust construction and its proven design allows deployment at speed (up to 25 knots) from ships of opportunity where it can be left unattended and recovered prior to entering port. Click to read the BBC News feature |
|
|
|
|
New
collaboration provides one port of call for |
|
|
. Chelsea Technologies Group, has been supplying towed undulating vehicles, (SeaSoar, AQUAshuttle and Nu-Shuttle) for over 30 years. These systems have been fitted with a wide range of instrumentation and tools including the CTG Autonomous Plankton Sampler, a plankton sampler based on the mechanism used within the SAHFOS CPR, updated with an electric motor and indexed gauze advance. For fixed depth tow applications, CTG has also
supplied CPR bodies fitted with an Autonomous Plankton Sampler. These CPR bodies can also be fitted with a CTG MINIpack
CTD-F. |
. For more information on the SAHFOS CPR survey click.
|
|
CPR Vehicle |
|||
|
Length: |
1.05m |
Width: |
0.30m |
|
Height: |
0.45m |
Weight in Air: |
90kg (in air) |
|
Operating Profile |
|
|
Towing Speed: |
up to 25 knots |
|
Tow Range: |
500 miles |
|
Engineering Details |
|
|
Material: |
Stainless Steel |
|
Silk Length Capacity: |
5m (equivalent to 500 nautical mile tow) |
|
Support Systems |
|
|
Cable: |
10mm diameter wire rope |
|
|
|
The CPR body is manufactured under licence
from SAHFOS. |
|
|
.
