The stationary ferrybox at Helgoland
Ferrybox systems are multi-sensor autonomous measuring systems which can provide temporally highly resolved data (at a frequency of several minutes or even less. They are named ferryboxes because they were originally installed on ferryboats or other ships of opportunity which covered regular routes e.g. in the North Sea. This facilitated repeated measurements of a range of physical and chemical parameters simultaneously.
Figure 1: Flow chart showing the arrangement of the different sensors in the ferry box: 1. Filter system to hold back large particles, 2. Exzenter pump delivering up to 20 l/min, 3. Debubbler, 4. FSI Excell Thermosalinograph, 5. Anderaa optode for the measurement of dissolved oxygen, 6. iRAS pH sensor, 7. Turner SCUFA, 8. 0.2 µm Cross-Flow filter. The filtered water is delivered to the nutrient sensors, 9. nutrient analyzers Systea µMAC100, 10. a pump delivering water to the fluoro probes, 11. TRIOS microFlu probe for total chlorophyll measurements, 12. BBE Fluoroprobe: This probe can distinguish different algal classes, 13. PC with probe management software: All system functionality can be monitored and adjusted remotely, 14: Land station. This receives the data.