Page 25: of Marine Technology Magazine (November 2012)

Next Generation of CTDs Smaller, Smarter and Tougher By Danielle Dumont CTDs are the core sensors for oceanographic measure-ments, providing information on water quality, water den- sity, and speed of sound. Many CTDs are designed to operate in speciÞ c ap- plications such as vertical proÞ ling or long-term monitoring and include capa-bilities such as data logging, high-speed sampling, antifouling systems and ad-ditional sensor inputs. Although such systems can offer broad capability and good sensing performance, they are of- ten large, expensive, and challenging to set up, maintain, and transport. YSI Inc. (a Xylem brand) has intro-duced the EXO monitoring platform, designed speciÞ cally for challenging marine applications, to meet the need for a smaller, low power and more ß ex- ible CTD.ÒEXO offers a major leap forward in the size, power draw, ß exibility and maintenance of a small but powerful CTD. More than 20 YSI engineers have worked on this platform for over three years to create something truly excit- ing for the marine sensing community,Ó says Rob Ellison, Executive Director of R&D, YSI.The EXO platform has a smart sens-ing system that allows users to quickly conÞ gure a system with the sensors of interest for a particular application. On-board power, data logging, and non- toxic antifouling simplify set up and system size. System maintenance is streamlined through smart sensors and universal sensor ports, allowing users to carry only calibrated sensors (5/8-in. di-ameter, 5-in. length), to the Þ eld rather than the entire monitoring system. The small sensors can be removed from the system and recalibrated; they store their calibration and metadata inside and re-www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 25MTR #9 (18-33).indd 25MTR #9 (18-33).indd 2511/29/2012 11:01:50 AM11/29/2012 11:01:50 AM