The SCIMS data collection system exists in one of two forms: the SCS (Shipboard Computer System) on NOAA vessels and MET (METeorological acquisition system) for SIO vessels. The data is collected at regular intervals for both systems at 30 second intervals.  The installation and maintenance of the collection systems is the responsibility of the Shipboard Technical Support groups at SIO and NOAA NMFS.  The following is a brief outline of the setup.  For more information on specific sensors, please look at the meta data files for each cruise.

There are a number of sensors scattered throughout each ship.  These sensors can be classified as belonging to one of 3 categories:

1. Oceanographic sensors: Sensors that measure properties of the ocean surface.  This category includes the thermosalinograph, fluorometer, flow meter, and sea surface thermistors.  The thermosalinograph forms the foundation of the SCIMS data, reporting highly accurate temperature and salinity data.
2. Meteorological sensors: Sensors that measure properties of the air.  This includes a PAR sensor, rain guage, anemometers, barometer, air thermistor and a few others.
3. Navigational Instruments: Sensors and instruments that report where the ship is going, how fast its getting there and where it is now. Examples of navigational instruments are GPS units, gyroscope and a speed logger.

These sensors are constantly sending their output on either an RS232 or RS485 serial link to a serial multiplexor in the ship's electronics closet.  This multiplexor creates one serial signal to send to a central computer running either the SCS or the MET software. After interpreting the serial string, the software writes the data in ASCII plain text to a local file.  At the end of each cruise, the raw files are collected and uploaded to our CalCOFI data server to await processing.