Installing Probes on Rockland Instruments

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Installing probes is a critical part of preparing your Rockland instrument for deployment. To help ensure you are using the correct probe installation techniques, we have released instructional videos for our three most common probe holders. Please see details and videos below! How to Install Probes on the VMP-250: This video covers probe installation on […]

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Setup.cfg: Managing Instrument Configuration Files

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The instrument configuration file (setup.cfg) is a critical part of your Rockland instrumentation.  Proper management of the configuration file will ensure successful data acquisition. Here are a few tips and tricks for managing configuration files to make your life easier and help ensure successful data collection.   Anatomy of a configuration file: The first section […]

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How to Zero the Pressure Sensor

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Many oceanographic instruments including those designed by Rockland Scientific, contain pressure sensors. Within Rockland instruments, changes in pressure are sensed as changes in voltage which is converted to units of decibars (dBar) in post processing. The dBar unit is extremely convenient because it is nearly synonymous with water depth in meters (m). At sea level, […]

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VMP Pressure Sensor Accuracy

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The profiling velocity, W, of a VMP instrument is derived using the signal dP/dt from the integrated pressure sensor.  It is imperative to have an accurate and high-resolution sensor to derive the rate of change of pressure, because it is used to convert the shear-probe data into physical units, and to convert the time rate […]

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Chlorophyll-a values from CLTU-VMP-250 Nose-Mounted Fluorometer/Optical Backscatter Sensor

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The VMP-250 features an integrated compound fluorometer and optical backscatter (OBS) sensor to measure chlorophyll and turbidity.  This CLTU-VMP-250 sensor is co-located on the nose of the profiler with the microstructure sensors and designed for Rockland for vertical profiling applications.    The CLTU-VMP-250 compound chlorophyll/turbidity sensor uses a light emitting diode for fluorescence and backscattering […]

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Vibrations Sensors: History, Signal Output and Calibration with Rockland Instruments

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In 2010, 2-axis piezo-accelerometers (vibration sensors) and a precision inclinometer accurate to 0.1 degrees replaced three DC-response accelerometers in Rockland instruments. The new system produces far better low-frequency angle measurements and a much improved signal-to-noise ratio for higher frequencies. The purpose of the vibration sensors is not to quantify the acceleration of a VMP or […]

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