Broad-Scale Station Protocol

1997 Protocol

The Broad-scale cruises will carry out CTD, zooplankton, fish larval and acoustic surveys of Georges Bank and adjacent waters in addition to the ship's suite of meterological measurements. On each survey cruise, forty (40) of these stations are called the "Standard Stations". They are located to provide uniform, bank-wide coverage. The remaining stations are located approximately halfway between each pair of standard stations. At these "in-between sites", Bongo tows will be taken. Other "in-between" stations (i.e. off the straight line cruise track) have been identified as desirable, but due to time constraints they cannot be routinely accomodated. If extra cruise time is available, the chief scientist can decide to visit these sites as well.

Note: Standard station numbers are not in numerical order since if new stations are added they are given the next higher number no matter where they are located on the Bank.

There are two types of standard stations defined for broad-scale cruises:

full stations where MOCNESS1, MOCNESS10, CTD, Pump, and Bongo data are collected;
partial stations where Bongo, MOCNESS1 and CTD data are collected.

Each "Standard Station" is assigned a priority number, from 1 to 4. Priority 1 and 2 stations are "full stations" and priority 3 and 4 stations are "partial stations". Priority 1 stations are "more important" than priority 2 stations, etc. If circumstances require the chief scientist to drop any of the core stations (due to weather or other ship delays) the Chief Scientist is requested to follow the station priorities as show here. All intermediate stations are to be viewed as having a priority of 5, that is, lower than the standard stations.

There is an exception to this rule: station 40, while assigned a priority 3, also has a MOCNESS 10 tow.

At the intermediate stations, ichthyoplankton bongo tows on the ship's track line are taken for all broad-scale cruises, except the one in June. In June, because most of the larvae will have become juveniles, the in-between bongos are eliminated. Instead, add a MOC 10 to all stations with less than 100m depth (about 15 or so stations). This should maximize the sampling of the cod and haddock year classes.

Once the standard stations and intermediate stations are taken, the Chief Scientist can return to interesting areas for additional station work at his/her discretion. However, given the length of the cruise, it is unlikely that there will be sufficient time for any additional stations.

For additional information, including a table of positions and their priorities, see the Broad-Scale Station Plan for 1997.

See also "Broad-scale station plans" for an historical record of the Program's station plans.

Modified: September 10, 1997