A

ACM

Acoustic Current Meter. ACMs use the Doppler effect to measure current velocities in the ocean environment. 

ACM documentation page.

ACOA

Atlantic Canada Opportunites Agency.

ACORK

Advanced Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit (see CORK).

AD, ADC or A/D

Analogue to Digital Converter.

ADCP

Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler. The ADCP is an active sonar system for measuring ocean currents, much like the weather Doppler systems used to map atmospheric winds and rain. It consists of multiple acoustic transducers projecting upwards into the water column. It can measure the currents at many depths, thus providing a profile of the ocean currents. 

ADCP documentation page.

ADM

Analoge Digitale Meßsysteme, German instrument manufacturer.

AGU

American Geophysical Union.

AML

AML Oceanographic, Victoria, BC instrument manufacturer.

Anode

Ocean Networks Canada uses a telecom fibre optic cable. These cables have only one power conductor and are designed to use the sea water as the other conductor. The seawater conductor path in VENUS consists of a cathode at each node and an anode at each Shore Station. The anode connects the seawater conductor path to the power system in the Shore Station.

APL-UW

Applied Physics Lab - University of Washington.

Aquadopp

The Aquadopp Acoustic Current Meter (ACM) is a single-point current meter which produces 3 velocity measurements (North, East and Vertical) in m/s. ACM documentation page.

Aquadopp Z-cell

An Aquadopp with a zero cell (head height) velocity measurement (see Aquadopp).

Array

One completed cabled system from seafloor instruments to shore station. VENUS consists of two arrays.

ASL

ASL Environmental. Victoria, BC instrument manufacturer.

AUV

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.

---

B

Backscatter

When sound encounters an obstacle, or travels through the stratified ocean, several things can happen. Upon reaching a suspended solid (plankton, fish, debris), some of the sound is scattered, either in the forward or oblique directions (diffraction) or back towards the source (backscatter).

BARS

Benthic and Resistivity Sensors. BARS instruments record measurements from hydrothermal vents. They have sensors to measure resistivity, temperature, eH (oxidizable nature of seawater components) and hydrogen. These instruments can estimate chloride concentration, temperature, and redox potential within a black smoker vent by recording a time series of fluid resistivity (M. Lilley, U of W). The region of active geothermal venting, measured by BARS sensors, shows extremely variable temperatures as hot hydrothermal fluid is cooled quickly by surrounding sea water.
BARS documentation page.

BCAVED

BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development.

BCKDF

B.C. Knowledge Development Fund.

Benthic

A term referring to the region at the bottom of a body of water, including the uppermost layers of sediment.

BMS

Backhaul Management System.

BoG

Board of Governors.

BPR

Bottom Pressure Recorder. The Ocean Networks Canada BPRs, which are custom-designed by researchers at Natural Resources Canada's GSC Pacific facility in Sidney, BC, include sensors for pressure (at 1 Hz) and temperature. They can detect pressure changes of 100 ppb (equivalent to 0.4 mm of water). Data from these units help scientists better understand tsunami wave propagation and provide background information for establishing an early warning system to protect coastal communities.

---

C

CANARIE

Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network.

CANPAC divers

CANPAC Divers Inc. Vancouver, BC commercial diver contractor.

Cathode

VENUS uses a telecom fibre optic cable. These cables have only one power conductor and are designed to use the sea water as the other conductor. The seawater conductor path in VENUS consists of a cathode at each node and an anode at each Shore Station. The cathode connects the seawater conductor path to the power system in the Node.

CCGS

Canadian Coast Guard Ship.

CDOM

Coloured Dissolved Organic Matter.

CECR

Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research.

CFI

Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

CHARS

Canadian High Arctic Research Station

CIDA

Canadian International Development Agency.

CMOP

Centre for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction.

CODAR

Coastal Radar. High Frequency Radar measures surface current. Ultimately, the VENUS CODAR system will employ two CODAR stations, one at IONA and one at the Westshore Terminals. When two stations are installed, VENUS will obtain and serve our users radial current vector data for the entire region between the two stations located 20 km apart.

COL

Consortium for Ocean Leadership.

COOL

Coastal Ocean Observation Lab, Rutgers University.

CORIE

Columbia River Estuary Observatory.

CORK

Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit, for instrumenting boreholes.

COSEE

Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence

COTS

Commercial Off The Shelf

COVIS

Cabled Observatory Vent Imaging Sonar. COVIS is a customized sonar system that provides a time-series of acoustically imaged and measured hydrothermal changes at Main Endeavour Field. COVIS images show plumes that rise from black smoker vents and lower-temperature diffuse flow discharging from the surrounding structures. Measurements include flow rate, volume flux of the plumes, and the area of diffuse flow. The COVIS project is a collaborative between Rutgers University and the Applied Physics Laboratory of University of Washington.

COVIS documentation page.

C/S

Cable Ship.

CSA

Canadian Space Agency or;

Canadian Standards Association

CSEM

Controlled-source Electro-magnetic experiment.The CSEM is a stationary imaging experiment that generates data sensitive to changes in these sediment properties. Using the NEPTUNE Regional Network, the CSEM provides continuous, real-time monitoring of the “Bullseye” cold vent offshore Vancouver Island.CSEM documentation page.

CSnet

CSnet International Corporation, USA off shore communications company.

CSSF

Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility, Sidney, BC ROV operator.

CTB

Cable Termination Box. In the CTB, the fibres in the cable are connected to the Shore Station network equipment and the power conductor in the cable is connected to the power feed equipment. The CTB provides access to the fibres and power conductors in the cable.

CTD

Conductivity, Temperature, Depth Instrument. A standard oceanographic instrument system which measures seawater conductivity (used in the calculation of salinity), temperature and pressure (used to determine depth).These three sensors also allows one to calculate the actual seawater density at the instrument.

CTW

Conductivity-Temperature with Wiper instrument. A CTW is a Temperature and Conductivity recorder with an integrated wiper which passes through the conductivity cell on a regular basis to prevent fouling.

---

D

DAC

Double Armoured Cable or;

Digital to Analogue Converter or;

DMAS Advisory Committee.

DAF

Data Acquisition Framework.

Daisy Chain (Electrical Engineering)

In electrical and electronic engineering a daisy chain is a wiring scheme in which multiple devices are wired together in sequence or in a ring.

dbar

Metric sub-unit of pressure. One dbar (decibar) is 0.1 bar, 10 kilopascals, or 1.45 pounds per square inch (psi). Pressure in the ocean is often expressed in units of decibars, abbreviated dbar. The sea pressure at the surface is 0 dbar. Depth in metres and pressure in dbar are roughly equivalent; for example, at 1 m depth pressure is approximately 1 dbar, and at 500 m approximately 500 dbar etc.

Decadal

Pertaining to ten; consisting of tens.

DDL

Delta Dynamics Laboratory. An array of instrument packages for studying slope stability and sediment dynamics. It includes a CTD to measure water properties, optical backscatter sensors to measure sediment transport at two different heights, single point current meters to measure currents at those same heights, upward looking ADCP to measure currents and sediment concentrations throughout the water column, ASL acoustic profiler to measure sediment concentrations and gas bubbles (as well as zooplankton and fish) throughout the water column, scanning sonars to measure bedforms, and a laser instrument for measuring suspended grain sizes and concentrations. The Delta Dynamics Laboratory is located in Eastern Strait of Georgia, at 10-40 meters depth.

Depth

The depth quoted for a location is the amount of water above a point during the mean lowest low tide (note: it is defined this way for the safety of mariners, who need to know how much water is under their keel).

DFAIT

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Diffraction

When sound encounters an obstacle, or travels through the stratified ocean, several things can happen. Upon reaching a suspended solid (plankton, fish, debris), some of the sound is scattered, either in the forward or oblique directions (diffraction) or back towards the source (backscatter).

DMAS

Data Management and Archiving System. DMAS collects, indexes and archives all data produced by the various in-sea instruments on the Ocean Networks Canada Observatories, and provides system users access to these data. DMAS also provides command and control of instruments to privileged users.

DND

Department of National Defence.

DO, DO2

Dissolved Oxygen.

DONET

Dense Oceanfloor Network system for Earthquakes and Tsunamis, a seafloor observatory off the coast of Japan.

DPG

Differential Pressure Gauge.

DPG documentation page.

DRDC

Defence Research and Development Canada.

D/V

Drilling Vessel (e.g. D/V JOIDES Resolution).

---

E

EOFS

Environmental Observation & Forcasting System.

EOI

Expression of Interest.

EM

Electro-Magnetic or;

 

Echosounder Multibeam, Kongsberg. Kongsberg echosounders can map bathymetry beyond the continental rises (up to 5000m depth) to shallow water basins (10 m depth).  Since the maintenance cruise in July 2011, the R/V Thompson has been equipped with the Kongsberg EM 302 system. 

EMSO

European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory.

ENSO

El Niño Southern Oscillation.

EPIC

EPIC stands for Engineering Procurement Installation Commissioning is typically a Lump Sum Turn Key type contract integrating the responsibility going from conception to the final acceptance of one or more elements of a production system. It can be awarded for all, or part, of a field development.

ESFRI

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.

ESONET

European Seas Observatory Network.

EU

European Union.

Event

“Event” refers to some condition of scientific interest either unexpected in the data stream or determined by condtions that exceed predetermined ranges.

Extension Cable

An extension cable provides power (typically 400 VDC) and communications (typically 100BaseT Ethernet) from observatory nodes to junction boxes on instrument platforms.

---

F

FET

Field Effect Transistor.

FGDC

Federal Geographic Data Committee.

---

G

GB

Gigabyte. SI unit denoting 10⁹ or 1,000,000,000 bytes. Sometimes also refers to 2³⁰ or 1,073,741,824 bytes.

GIS

Geographic Information System. GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data.

GT

Georgia Transporter is a special purpose surface support craft for tending of submarines, ROVs, and for anchor handling.When outfitted with her specially designed submarine cable equipment, the Georgia Transporter becomes a sophisticated cable layer.

GTD

Gas Tension Device. The GTD measures the total dissolved air pressure. The total dissolved air pressure is the sum of the partial pressures of all dissolved gases in the water.

---

H

HA

Hydrophone Array. The HA is a directional three (or more) hydrophone system.

HARS

High Arctic Research Station.

HD

High Definition, a video format.

HDPE

High Density PolyEthylene is a type of polyethylene plastic made from petroleum. 

HF

High Frequency.

HOCR

Hyperspectral Ocean Colour Radiometer. Radiometers collect measurements of optical properties in the ocean environment.

Radiometer documentation page.

---

I

IBM

International Business Machines.

IC

Integrated Circuit (chip) or;

 

Instrument Concepts, a hydrophone manufacturer in Truro, NS.

ICD

Interface Control Document.

ICT

Information and Communications Technology.

IEEE

Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers.

iMaRS

Institute for Marine Remote Sensing.

INAC

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

IODP

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.

IOS

Institute of Ocean Sciences. Located west of Sidney on Vancouver Island on a 70-acre site, the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS) is one of Canada’s largest marine institutes. An important link in Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s nationwide chain of nine major scientific facilities, the institute is the centre for research on coastal waters of BC, the Northeastern Pacific Ocean, the western Canadian Arctic and navigable fresh waters east to the Alberta border.

IP

Instrument Platform.

IPS

The Ice Profiling Sonar is a an upward-looking sonar device, mounted on the ocean floor, which is used to accurately measure ice draft.

IPS documentation page.

ISE

International Submarine Engineering Ltd.

ISFET

The Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor is an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor used for measuring ion concentrations in solution.

ISO

International Organization for Standards.

Isobath

A line on a map or chart that connects all points having the same depth below the surface of a body of water (sometimes called depth contour); also, having constant depth.

IT

Information Technology.

---

J

JASCO

JASCO Research is an underwater acoustics company in Halifax, NS and Victoria, BC.

JOIDES

Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (see the JOIDES Resolution, a drilling vessel).

---

L

LAB

Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics at the Technical University of Catalonia.

LEF

Leading Edge Fund, a fund from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) which supports leading-edge research or technology development activities. 

LEO

Long-term Ecosystem Observatory, Rutgers University, NJ.

LF

Low Frequency.

LIDO

Listening to the Deep Ocean, a bioacoustic research project. The LIDO website was developed by researchers at Spain's Technical University of Catalonia and analyzes hydrophone data from many networks around the world. The LIDO research aims to understand organisms' responses to anthropogenic sound sources and informs on long-term management of noise pollution in the oceans.

LW

Light Weight Cable.

---

M

MACHO

Marine Cable Hosted Observatory, Taiwan.

mab

Metres above bottom.

MarDep

An Investigation into, and Modeling of, Environmental Problems and Observations of Submarine Earthquakes in the Marmara Sea.

Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS)

MARS is a cable-based observatory system similar to VENUS, which incorporates a benthic node and a variety of instrumentation. The MARS cable was installed in Monterey Bay, California in 2007.

MBARI

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

mbsf

Metres below seafloor.

Metadata

Data which describes other data. Metadata can be a recursive concept where the metadata is further described by other metadata.

MF

Medium Frequency.

MINK

An underwater connector made by SeaCon used on the Ocean Networks Canada Observatories.

MOU

Memorandum of Understanding.

MSI

Major Science Initiative.

MTC

The University of Victoria's Marine Technology Centre.

M/V

Motor Vessel.

MVC

Medium Voltage Converter.

MVCO

Martha's Vineyard Coastal Observatory, WHOI.

---

N

NaN

Not a Number. Missing data or values that are indeterminate are assigned the place holder “NaN”, standing for “Not a Number.”

NANOOS

Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems. NANOOS is the Regional Association of the National Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) in the Pacific Northwest, primarily Washington and Oregon. NANOOS has strong ties with the observing programs in Alaska and British Columbia through our common purpose and the overlap of data and products.

NEPTUNE

The North-East Pacific Time-series Underwater Networked Experiments (NEPTUNE) Observatory consists of an approximately 800 km long cable running from the shore station at Port Alberni off the west coast of Vancouver Island across the Juan de Fuca plate. The cable carries power and communications to instruments, located on the seafloor and in the overlying water column, which relay their data in real-time to the shore station. The NEPTUNE Observatory is operated by Ocean Networks Canada.

NEPTUNE Canada (NC)

See NEPTUNE.

NCE

Networks of Centres of Excellence.

NEMA

National Electrical Manufacturers Association.

NEMO

Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean.

NGK

Nichiyu Giken Kogyo Co. Ltd.

NMS

Network Management System.

NOAA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOC

Network Operations Centre. The NOC is the physical site where control of the overall cabled observatory system is located. The entire network consists of shore stations, marine cables, nodes, junction boxes and oceanographic instruments. All of these components are monitored and controlled at the Network Operations Centre at the University of Victoria. The NOC monitors system health (i.e. electrical power, electrical current, data transmission, temperature of electronics, etc.) from all sub-systems. It permits network operators to turn on and off specific node and junction box ports, as well as the main power supply at the shore station.

Node

An underwater structure that houses power and communications equipment and provides the physical connections between the fibre optic cable and the scientific instrument packages.

Node Base

The Node base is a steel structure on the seabed to which the fibre optic cable is secured, and into which the Node Pod rests.

Node Pod

The Node Pod is the assembly that houses the Node Can containing system electronics, and the wet-mate science connector bank.

NRC

National Research Council.

NRCan

Natural Resources Canada.

NRC-HIA

National Research Council Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics. The National Research Council of Canada Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (NRC-HIA) manages Canada’s involvement in major astronomical observatories in Hawaii and Chile, thereby ensuring Canadian astronomers full access to world-class facilities spanning the entire sky.

NSERC

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

NSF

National Science Foundation.

NTP

Network Time Protocol. NTP permits clock synchronization over networks.

---

O

ODC

Ocean Discovery Centre or;

 

Organizational Domain Controller.

ODI

Ocean Design Inc. (Teledyne), in Daytona Beach, Florida.

ODP

Ocean Drilling Platform.

O&M

Operations and Maintenance.

ONC

Ocean Networks Canada manages and operates world-leading ocean observatories for the advancement of science and for the benefit of Canada. It does so on the behalf of the University of Victoria, the lead institution for a national consortium of universities and partner organizations. ONC several observatories, including the VENUS coastal observatory and the NEPTUNE observatory, in addition to a federal centre of excellence for commercialization and research, the ONC Innovation Centre.

ONCCEE

ONC Centre for Enterprise & Engagement (now renamed the ONC Innovation Centre). ONCCEE is a Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) funded by the Canadian Government in 2009 under the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. ONCCEE has a mandate to generate socio-economic benefits from Canada’s significant investments in Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and its two observatories, VENUS and NEPTUNE, through a series of programs focused on ocean science, technology and education.

OOI

Ocean Observatories Initiative.

OTTB

Ocean Technology Test Bed. This project is part of an ongoing initiative at the University of Victoria to advance marine technology. The ocean technology test bed (OTTB) is an engineering laboratory, located on the seafloor in Saanich Inlet. It will enable scientific instrument prototyping, ocean technology development and systems engineering. More specifically, it will facilitate research into the technologies required to extend the reach of cabled ocean observatories using underwater vehicles, autonomous instrumentation, and acoustic networks.

---

P

PAR

Photosynthetically Active Radiation.

pCO₂

Partial pressure of CO₂.

PFE

Power Feed Equipment. Equipment used to supply power to submarine fibre-optic cables.

PGC

Pacific Geoscience Centre in North Saanich, BC.

PI

Principal Investigator.

PLUTO

Panama LJL Underwater Tropical Observatory. PLUTO is part of Liquid Jungle Lab.

pN₂

Partial pressure of N₂.

POGO

Profiling OceanoGraphic Observatory (See VPS). POGO is a mobile instrument platform. It consists of a seafloor base unit and a tethered float. A winch on the base unit raises and lowers the float, hosting instrumentation for monitoring salinity, temperature, dissolved gasses and nutrients, currents, plankton and fish concentrations, and marine mammal movements. 

pO₂

Partial pressure of O₂.

psu

Practical Salinity Unit. Unit used to describe the concentration of dissolved salts in water. The UNESCO Practical Salinity Scale of 1978, PSS78, defines salinity in terms of a conductivity ratio, so is dimensionless. Therefore practical salinity is correctly written without units, although often you will see the numeric value followed by psu which stands for “practical salinity unit”.

PTP

Precision Time Protocol. PTP permits clock synchronization over networks.

PTZ

Pan Tilt Zoom. ​Pan & tilt mechanisms allow remote operators to control camera movements at the seafloor. 

Pan Tilt Mechanisms documentation page.

PU

Public user.

PUNC

Programmable Underwater Connector with Knowledge, instrument protocol.

---

Q

QINIQ

Means "to search".  The Qiniq network is an advanced satellite and wireless network, delivering Broadband Internet services to all communities in Nunavut, Canada. The network spans 25 communities, servicing a total population of approximately 29,000 people across 2 million square kilometers.

---

R

RAID

Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

RAS

Remote-Access water Sampler. The RAS is a deep water or coastal time-series water sampler that collects samples for biological, dissolved major and minor nutrient, dissolved trace metal, or dissolved organic carbon analyses. 

RBR

RBR is an instrument manufacturer in Ottawa, ON.

RCM

Regional Circulation Mooring.

RCM documentation page. 

RDI

Refers to Teledyne RD Instruments, previously RD Instruments, in San Diego, California. Specializes in the design and manufacture of underwater acoustic Doppler products for a wide array of current profiling and precision navigation applications.

RFP

Request for Proposal.

RFQ

Request for Quotation (Quote).

RNS

Regional Networked System.

ROCLS

Remotely Operated Cable Laying System (operated by ROPOS). ROCLS latches beneath ROPOS for deployment of extension cables for seafloor observatories. This unique system utilizes the ROPOS ROV with a specially designed cable laying spool and operating system that allows for the deployment of smaller diameter cables that cannot be laid in deep water by a cable ship. 

ROM

Rough order of magnitude.

ROPOS

ROPOS stands for the Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Sciences. It is an advanced remotely operated vehicle (ROV), maintained and operating by the Canadian Science Submersible Facility in Sidney, BC. 

RO-RO

Roll On, Roll Off.

ROV

Remotely Operated Vehicle. Used to deploy, retrieve, and maintain instruments on a deep-sea cabled observatory. 

RTI

Research Theme Integrator.

R/V

Research Vessel.

Rx

Receiver.

---

S

SAC

Scientific Advisory Committee.

SATURN

Science And Technology University Research Network.

SBDA

Science-Based Departments and Agencies.

SBE

Sea-Bird Electronics.

Science Oversight Committee

Membership constituted from the user community; mandate to advise VENUS Operations on Facility configuration in response to user needs and to resolve conflicts among user requests.

Scientific Instrument Package

One or more scientific instruments which are connected to a science connector on the Node.

SFC

Sea Floor Compliance package.

Sea Floor Compliance package documentation page.  

SFOC

Submarine Fibre optic Cable.

SFP

Small Form-factor Pluggable port.

Shore Station

The site at or near the cable landings of the individual instrument arrays. This site is responsible for providing power to the array and acts as a command and data interface.

SI

Saanich Inlet is one of the best-studied marine basins in the world, and home to one of ONC's Salish Sea Observatories. 

SIIM (Scientific Instrument Interface Module)

The SIIM is the standard VENUS hardware for instrument multiplexing. The SIIM has 4 serial and 2 Ethernet ports. All ports provide 24 Vdc for instrument power, and in addition, one Ethernet port has 400 Vdc to allow SIIMs to be daisy-chained.

SLIP

Seismic Liquefaction In-situ Penetrometer.The SLIP is designed to monitor and help predict sub-sea slope failures in coastal environments that can trigger tsunamis.

SME

Small to Medium sized Enterprises or;

 

Subject Matter Expert

SNMP

Simple Network Management Protocol.

SoG

The Strait of Georgia is a deep, inland basin located between Vancouver Island to the west and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia to the east, including the City of Vancouver. The Strait of Georgia branch of Ocean Networks Canada's VENUS Observatory resides in the southern portion of the Strait. This deep basin is nearly 200 km long and 40 km wide, and has maximum water depths of more than 400 m in the central/northern region. A dominant and influencing feature of the Strait is the mouth of the Fraser River, which experiences peak flows in May and June as the seasonal snow pack from the coastal mountains of southern British Columbia drains into the Strait of Georgia.

SOSC

Smart Ocean Sensor Consortium. The Smart Ocean Sensor Consortium (SOSC) is a group of manufacturers and users dedicated to improving the reliability, utility and cost-effectiveness of hydrographic sensor networks through the adoption, development, and promotion of appropriate standard interfaces and protocols. In particular, the SOSC supports the new Open Geospatial Consortium PUCK Protocol standard.

SONET

Synchronous Optical Network transponder.

SPAWAR

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

SUNA

Submersible Ultraviolet Nitrate Analyzer.

SPC

Science Planning Committee.

---

T

TB

Terabyte. SI unit denoting 10¹² or 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Sometimes also refers to 2⁴⁰ bytes.

TBD

To Be Determined.

TDF

Technology Demonstration Facility.

TDP

Technology Demonstration Project.

TEF

Technology Enterprise Facility, the building which houses the Ocean Networks Canada offices at the University of Victoria.

TI

Texas Instruments.

TWERC

Tsunami Warning and Early Response system for Cyprus.

TRF

Trawl-Resistant Frame.

Tx

Transmitter.

---

U

UIF

User Interaction Features.

UJC

Universal Joint Connector.

UNCLOS

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Universal Time (Coordinated Universal Time – UTC)

A high precision atomic clock time standard that replaces the historic Greenwich Mean Time. It is 7 hours ahead of British Columbia local time during Pacific Daylight Saving Time (PDT), and 8 hours ahead during periods of Pacific Standard Time (PST).

UPC

Technical University of Catalonia.

UPS

Uninteruptible Power Supply.

UUID

Universal Unique ID.

UVic

University of Victoria located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

---

V

Vector ADV

The Vector Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter, also known as “Vector” is a field instrument designed for measurements of rapid small scale changes in 3D velocity, used for turbulence, boundary layer measurements, surf zone measurements, and measurements in very low flow areas.

VENUS

Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS) Observatory in the Salish Sea is comprised of installations in Saanich Inlet and Stait of Georgia. Instruments range in depth from near-surface to 300 m. The VENUS Observatory is operated by Ocean Networks Canada.

VIP

VENUS Instument Platform. A VIP is a bottom mounted platform designed to accommodate a SIIM and a number of instruments. 

VHF

Very High Frequency.

VPN

Virtual Private Network.

VPN Client

Direct interaction with scientific instrument packages (e.g. controlling the digital camera) is accomplished using Virtual Private Network (VPN). Access to authorized users is provided through a VPN Client.

VPS

The Vertical Profiler System (see POGO) is a mobile instrument platform. It consists of a seafloor base unit and a tethered float. A winch on the base unit raises and lowers the float, houses instrumentation for monitoring salinity, temperature, dissolved gasses and nutrients, currents, plankton and fish concentrations, and marine mammal movements.

---

W

WARN

WARN stands for Web-enabled Awareness Response Network. Its goal is to provide very fast event detection of earthquakes and tsunamis to support BC’s coastal emergency preparedness authorities and decision-makers—especially in southern urban areas. It is funded by CANARIE, provider of high-speed Internet to Canada’s universities and major research facilities.

WCVI

West Coast of Vancouver Island.

WED

Western Economic Diversification.

WHOI

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

WMC

Wet Mate Connector.

WQM

WetLabs Water Quality Monitoring package.

WetLabs Water Quality Monitoring package documentation page. 

---

Z

ZAP

Zooplankton Acoustic Profiler. The ZAP echosounder monitors the presence and location of zooplankton within the water column by measuring acoustic backscatter returns with ultrasonic frequencies (200 kHz). Other sonar targets realizable from the sonar backscatter data include fish and sediments.

---