Towed Ocean Sensor System (TOSS)

An NRL/JHU combined effort has produced a towed array instrument package designed for measuring and analyzing the temperature characteristics of an arbitrarily long, vertically-oriented swath of the upper ocean. The system, designated TOSS, has involved some interesting innovation in the development of two of its main components: an NRL developed in-situ digitizing and telemetry system named MICODAT, and a JHU-developed hybrid computer acquisition system named SARDINE. MICODAT (MIcroprocessor Controlled Digitizing And Telemetry System) is an in-situ STD-bus microprocessor designed for 16-bit A/D conversion of the TOSS array of sensors. Data are transmitted to the shipboard acquisition system via an RS-232 serial link. Results are shown from the experiment PATCHEX, in which the system was configured for a 64-element array, 9600 baud transmission, and had a total-throughput data rate of 480 Hz. The acquisition system SARDINE (A System for Analyzing, Recording, and Displaying Information from NRL-towchain Experiments) is a novel combination of two technologies-computers and television. It provides a real-time analysis via a Compaq portable computer, a color display via an RGB television monitor, and data storage via a VHS videotape cassette. Additional attributes include compactness, minimal power requirements, and low cost.