Level 1 data (velocity point-measurements)

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Author(s):	Cynthia
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The required dimensions and variables for the first processing level within NetCDF ATOMIX format for velocity measurements are described below. Note only a few attributes for each variable are listed since the page's purpose is to describe the information layout within each NetCDF file. Please refer to the complete list for the additional information required for writing the files.

Dimensions

The number of velocity instruments [N_VEL_INSTRUMENT] is here for completeness, but the benchmarks examples will have measurements only from one instrument stored.

Short name	Standard name	Dimensions	Comments
TIME	time	time	Units in Days since 1950-01-01T00:00:00Z
TIME_HPR	time_of_heading_pitch_roll	TIME_HPR	Heading, pitch and roll (tilt) sensors measure always at 1Hz for Vector ADV
N_VEL_COMPONENT	number_of_velocity_components	N_VEL_COMPONENT	Maximum of 3 for u,v, w (east, north, up) velocities
Optional variables
N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	number_of_unique_velocity_instruments	N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	Required only if storing multiple synchronized instruments in the same file

Variables

Required variables

Short name	Standard name	Dimensions	Comments
[math]\displaystyle{ \ddagger }[/math] XYZ_VEL (or ENU_VEL/BEAM_VEL)	water_velocity_measured_in_instrument_coordinates	TIME, N_VEL_COMPONENT, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	Other variables are water_velocity measured_in_geographical_coordinates(ENU) or measured_in_beam_coordinates (beam).
[math]\displaystyle{ \dagger }[/math] HEIGHT or DEPTH	See table below	TIME, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT
[math]\displaystyle{ \dagger\dagger }[/math] BURST_NUMBER	unique_identifier_for_each_burst_in_this_file	TIME	Intergers of 1, 2, etc to designate which burst the velocities are associated with.
Platform motion variables
HEADING	platform_yaw_angle	TIME_HPR, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	degrees, clockwise from true North
PITCH	platform_pitch_angle	TIME_HPR, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	degrees
ROLL	platform_roll_angle	TIME_HPR, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	degrees
Quality-control variables usually available with acoustic-Doppler instruments
ABSIC	backscatter_intensity_from_acoustic_beam	TIME, N_VEL_COMPONENT, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT
SNR	signal_noise_ratio_from_each_acoustic_beam	TIME, N_VEL_COMPONENT	decibel
CORRN	noise_correlation_percent_from_each_acoustic_beam	TIME, N_VEL_COMPONENT, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT
[math]\displaystyle{ \ddagger }[/math] Some manufacturers record quality-control variables (e.g., CORRN) in the instrument coordinate system. For example, Nortek records these variables in the instrument XYZ frame of reference. It's best to record the data in that coordinate system. [math]\displaystyle{ \dagger }[/math] A variable situating the instruments in the water column is required. This may be a nominal depth (or height) or a time-varying depth or height above the bottom. [math]\displaystyle{ \dagger\dagger }[/math] Variable required only when measuring in bursts e.g., 18 min of continuous measurements every hour.

Required height variable

Height or depth-related variables (only 1x is required). These variables locate the instrument vertically from a boundary (e.g, surface or ice). A negative value implies it's below the boundary. Units are always in meters.

Short name	Standard name	Dimensions
HEIGHT_AB	height_above_bottom	TIME, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT
DEPTH	depth_below_surface	TIME, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT

Optional Ancillary Variables

Short name	Standard name	Dimensions	Comments
PRES	sea_water_pressure	TIME, N_VEL_INSTRUMENT	dbar, equals 0 at the sea surface and positive down.
TEMP*	sea_water_temperature	TIME	degrees_Celsius, in-situ temperature ITS-90 scale
*Data from concurrent sensors may be optionally included e.g., salinity, dissolved oxygen (e.g., eddy-correlation system). Kinematic viscosity of seawater needs to be calculated during processing,

Group attributes (metadata)

This section describes attributes that may provide additional information about how the data was processed and manipulated at this stage.

Attribute name	Purpose	Suggested content
processing_level	Boilerplate about the ATOMIX Level 1 content.	This group includes the raw measurements from the recorder and ancillary measurements required for quality-controlling them using the manufacturer's recommendations.
comment (optional)	Information is pertinent to problems in the raw data files during collection.	Examples: Stitching of files, corruption of binary files that were recovered by the manufacturer, etc.

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