Detailed release notes are available on internal wiki (requires login)

Release notes summaries on this page:

• 2 October 2015
• 2 September 2015
• 5 August 2015
• 2 July 2015
• 1 June 2015
• 4 May 2015
• 1 Apr 2015
• 26 Feb 2015
• 3 Feb 2015

2014 Release Notes

2013 Release Notes

2012 Release Notes

2011 Release Notes

2010 Release Notes

2 October 2015

New Data Preview feature - no login required

This is now the "landing page" - ie. the page you will arrive at when you access Oceans 2.0. This new feature lets you quickly view recent data on most devices and sensor. Plots of data for yesterday and the most recent 30 days are pre-generated so they are available for viewing immediately.  Note that Data Search lists a few devices that are intentionally not available in Data Preview.

How Data Preview works:

• You may or may not be logged in when you arrive at this page; login is not necessary.
• If you select a location in the tree, you will see a description of that site, and for major locations, a State of the Environment plot showing data for key sensors over all time.
• If you select a device you see a description of that device and a list of the sensors it contains on the Summary tab. The 24 Hr and Month tabs will show a plot of data for all the sensors with up to 9 sensors combined on each plot.
• If you select a sensor you will see a plot on the 24 Hr and Month tabs of data for that sensor. More time options will be added later. This data is pre-generated so the plots will appear immediately.
• If you click on an image an enlarged version will appear, and right-clicking on that image will allow you to save it.
• Results are updated daily and relate to calendar days regardless of when you view them.
• At this time, the following restrictions apply; more options will be added later:
• • Only searchable by location (“Instruments by Location”)
  • Limited to Daily and Monthly previews.
  • Engineering devices such as Junction Boxes are hidden from the search tree.
  • Devices and sensors that are offline (ie. not "neptune-searchable") will not appear.
  • Devices in the "Salish Sea Marine Survival Project" (ie. Pacific Salmon Foundation devices) will not have previews at this time.
• If you wish to download the data you must use the Data Search feature which is visible on the menu, although you are able to save the plot image in Data Preview.
• Includes all the data plots previously seen in the VENUS Data Plots. This page in venus.uvic.ca will soon be shut down.
• Support for primary sensor tree browsing (called "Variables by Location") has been added but will not be enabled until the content has been reviewed.
  
  

Login-free access

• The project to make certain pages accessible without logging in is now finished.
• Login-free access now applies to the following pages. 
  • Data Search
  • Data Preview
  • Plotting Utility
  • SeaTube
  • Device Details
  • Annotation Search
  • plus several other pages in the More menu.
• Some features on these pages will continue to require logging in first in order to use them, such as creating an annotation, creating a video playlist, saving and recalling a plot, and saving your search results (search results will be saved without logging in, but only if you continue to use the same browser on the same computer, have cookies enabled, and do not clear your cache). As before, search results will only be saved for 7 days, regardless of whether you are logged in.
• Tools menu has been renamed to Admin. All features that require login are in the Admin menu which will be hidden if you are not logged in.
• Some menu items have moved from Admin to More so that they will be available without logging in.

New Earthquake Display Page

• A new page has been added to oceannetworks.ca to display earthquake activity around the world. All events above magnitude 6 are shown, as well as those above magnitude 4 in the southern British Columbia region. The user is able to interact with the map and the table of values. Seismic data collected by our underwater seismometers is displayed for most events.

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Added capability of parsing and archiving the continuous Tau and Pd values coming from the Nanometrics Titan accelerometers for diagnostic purposes. Still requires a change to the on-site driver.
• Will start to archive "continuous Pd and Tau" values from the Nanometrics Titan accelerometer (once the driver is updated to output these new parameters).

Miscellaneous

• Created an FTP job for hydrophone files.
• "DateFrom" is now an editable field for device attributes.
• Wrote a driver for the new RBR Tilt Meter. Parser and calibration formulae will be added later.
• Developed a web service to deliver raw AIS (Automatic Identification System) data for ship locations.

2 September 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• Did some development of a new feature to quickly preview data on most devices. Will be enabled in a future release when it's complete.
• Added standard bin-mapping for RDI and Nortek ADCPs to match manufacturer's methods.
• In ADCP complex data products, removed the daily averaging on pitch and roll values.
• Improved RDI ADCP manufacturer’s raw files (RDI format), with heading/pitch/roll data from Oceans 2.0 replacing the internal sensor data where appropriate.
• Added support for the data products for the LISST (Sequoia Laser In-Situ Scattering and Transmissometry) device on the VENUS network.
• Data products for mobile devices now show the bounding coordinates of the device's location corresponding to the date range of the search.
• Added a device level time series scalar plot for all scalar devices. This plot displays up to 5 sensors at a time on a common time axis. If there are more than 5 sensors on the device, several plots will be generated.
• Added a data product for CODAR animation.
• All data products from the VENUS website have now been integrated into Oceans 2.0. You must use Oceans 2.0 from now on to download data from all devices on the VENUS network; the VENUS data download website is no longer available.
• Added a new spectral probability density plot data product for hydrophones. This plot displays a week of spectral data as a state of health and event detection summary. Also added a related spectral MATLAB data product which contains one minute spectra for each hydrophone source file (.wav or .hyd).
• Added corrected GPS data for Salish Sea Marine Survival Project (PSF) instruments.

Login Free Access

• Removed the login requirement from the remaining tabs on the Device Details page.

Instruments

• Made improvements to the driver for the RBRduo Temperature Depth Logger for FORCE
• Wrote a driver and parser for the SAMI pH sensor to be deployed at Cambridge Bay
• Now have the ability to acquire and parse navigation data from the Oceanic Explorer ROV

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Out of range values for Pd and Tau, the two parameters sent by the accelerometers that are used to compute the epicentre location, are now automatically rejected.

Miscellaneous

• SeaScribe and SeaTube now support multiple cameras.
• Created the scalardata web service so external users can access all scalar data.
• Added the ability to monitor and control Serial Control Units (SCUs) using Device Console. Plus SCU alarms now send SNMP traps.
• Created Wiring the Abyss pages on oceannetworks.ca for the upcoming dives.
• Modified the scalardata web service to use sensorcodename rather than sensorcode.

For more details see the internal release notes (restricted access): 2015-09-02 Release Notes

5 August 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• Added interactivity between the search tree and the map when Sort by "Variables by Location" has been selected. Ie. the map now shows the location of the primary sensor when a sensor is selected on the search tree, and vice versa.
• Data search failures automatically generate tracking "tickets" so we can investigate the cause. Tickets generated by search failures outside the production environment (ie. QA and Development) now contain the word "TEST" to distinguish them from production issues.
• Added data products for the scalar sensors on the ASL AZFP Echosounders, such as tilt and temperature.

Login Free Access

• Sea Tube is now accessible without logging in. For instance directly via http://dmas.uvic.ca/SeaTube. The following features within SeaTube will prompt you to log in first:
  • Adding an annotation
  • Editing existing annotations
  • Deleting an annotation
  • Recording to create a playlist
  • Playing public playlists
• The Device Details (DeviceListing) page is now accessible without logging in. For example if you make a plot using Plotting Utility without logging in, you are able to click on the Details link in the legend to bring up the device details. Or you can go directly there via http://dmas.uvic.ca/DeviceListing. Clicking on a Site link in the Site tab will require login.

oceannetworks.ca website

• The Wiring the Abyss pages now support multiple simultaneous cruises and dives.

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• The CAP messages for earthquake and tsunami notification now include a digital signature. The client API verifies that the signature is present and valid before it will act on notifications.
• The API and sample client now display the distance from the user to the epicentre, in km.

Miscellaneous

• SeaScribe and SeaTube now support video feeds from multiple cameras on the same ROV dive.
• Did some initial design work and prototyping towards a tool that will allow previewing of data for a pre-defined set of instruments and recent time ranges.
• Created a "scalardata" web service to access any data for scalar sensors for any date range.
• The two types of Thermosalinographs have been merged into one type.
• Wrote a parser for the ZEUS II ROV Navigation device so that we can have georeferenced dive data.

2 July 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• On the Data Search step 1 page, in the "Sort By" selector, "Location" has been renamed to "Instruments by Location", and "Instrument" has been renamed to "Instruments by Category". This is related to an upcoming feature where users will be able to search "Variables by Location". This will replicate and improve upon the "Search by Water Property" function on the VENUS data download page.
• Added station names to plot titles for complex data such as ADCP.
• MATLAB data products for mobile devices (ie. all except CSV) now state the range of positioning data (latitude, longitude, depth) for the applicable data, instead of 'NaN'.
• When using Sort by Location, complex data products now have filenames that contain the location name, similar to scalar data products.
• Added data products for Imagenex profiling and imaging sonars (primarily on the VENUS network, may be temporarily disabled pending review).
• Added data products for Sequoia LISST particle analyzers (primarily on the VENUS network, may be temporarily disabled pending review).
• Improved the status messages when no data is found to aid users in understanding why there's no data and to help find data.
• Nortek raw binary data products (AQD, PRF, VNO, VEC) will no longer be unavailable when the configuration is unavailable (a warning will be issued in that case, but users will still be able to the get the data).

SeaTube

• Made most features available without having to log in. This can be accessed from oceannetworks.ca via the Video page on Sights & Sounds. The following features still require logging in:
  • adding, deleting or editing an annotation
  • creating a playlist
  • taking snapshots

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Created a Java API for users who wish to subscribe to and receive earthquake and/or tsunami notifications on their PC to compute time-to-shaking and shaking intensity.
• Wrote client software that uses the API and displays notifications on a console, as an example of how the API can be used by clients.
• Improved the earthquake notification messages to add the number of sensors that contributed to each detection and notification.

Miscellaneous

• Added sensor units to the list of variables returned by the DeviceInfoService web service.
• Did some initial work on designing a web page to quickly preview data for fixed time ranges.

1 June 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• Added a new search feature to Data Search (and Plotting Utility) called "Sort by: Primary Sensor" (currently disabled). This is useful when you want to search for data by property but you aren't sure what instruments measure that property. Or there may be more than one instrument but you don't know which one is the best one to use. To use Sort by: Primary Sensor you first select the location you want, then you select the water (or air) property without being concerned about what instrument is measuring that property. If there is more than one instrument, this feature will automatically select the one that we consider to be the best one to use. The software has been written but this feature will not be enabled until testing is completed.
• For data products for the ZAP (Zooplankton Acoustic Profiler), improved the Config field to show which fields are instrument configuration and which are post process information.
• Hydrophone data products can now make use of NAXYS calibration files.

Plotting Utility

• Added a new feature - "Sort by: Primary Sensor". See Data Search above (currently disabled).
• Developed a new version of Plotting Utility where most features can be accessed without needing to have an account or having to log in. This is linked to the oceannetworks.ca website from the Preview & Download page (under Data & Tools). All the usual features will work except for the following:
  • Details, Docs, and Download Data links
  • Saving plots

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Finished thoroughly testing the Earthquake Correlator and fixing all issues that were found.

Miscellaneous

• Improved the reprocessing service to handle piggyback devices that are moved to a new parent device on the same day.
• Work was done to support live divelog video feeds from simultaneous cruises, for the Wiring the Abyss webpage and SeaTube.

4 May 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• Created data products for the CODAR in the Salish Sea including RUV, TUV, and PNG formats. This device is listed under Marine Radar System.
• Data products have been created for the British Columbia ferry instruments located in the Salish Sea.
• Added MAT, PNG, and PDF data products for ZAP (Zooplankton Acoustic Profiler).

QA/QC (quality control)

• Modified the way data can be manually flagged as good or bad - what we call the "manual QA/QC process". The process is now simpler and more foolproof in that if you need to change the flags on data that already has QA/QC flags, you merely have to state what new flags you want and what time ranges they apply to. You don't have to concern yourself about the state of existing flags when creating your manual QA/QC file.
• It is now possible to flag data as bad as soon as the data is received - ie. automatically. This is useful if it is known that the instrument is not performing correctly.

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Completed the web service support for CANARIE. This was the final piece to complete the NEP-105 CANARIE-supported project (however additional WARN development is taking place under a new project). The web service confirms to CANARIE that WARN is operational and reports the number of earthquakes and tsunamis reported in the past 24 hours. It also provides CANARIE with links to documentation on the project.
• Implemented a server "push" notification method to notify external clients of earthquakes and tsunamis. Later an example client application will be developed to demonstrate how this system works, and to provide a template for users who wish to develop their own client application.

Miscellaneous

• Added a link to the File Upload feature on the Tools menu. This is an existing feature to upload annotations but had been a hidden page up to now.
• Now support multiple resolutions of time lapse video in SeaTube for the FORCE (Atlantic) observatory.
• Added support for primary sensors in ScalarDataAPIService, DeviceService, and in Plotting Utility. This will eventually be used to support expanded preview plots in the oceannetworks.ca website.

Ocean Networks website (oceannetworks.ca)

• Created "state of the ocean" preview plots for key locations in the NEPTUNE, VENUS, and Cambridge Bay (Arctic) observatories. These show key ocean parameters such as salinity and temperature over a period of several years. They do not require logging into an account in order to view them. See "Data and Tools" followed by "Preview and Download", then "State of the Ocean".

1 April 2015

Data Search and Data Products

•  We now handle null site positions and mobile position offsets in data products.

Instruments

• Upgraded to handle new sensors and new data format for Ocean Sonics AF and HF hydrophones.
• New calibration formulas for the second generation SIIMs.
• Now parsing the State of Health (SOH) data from seismometers.

Miscellaneous

• Now tracking activity on the login and registration pages with Google Analytics so we can learn about problems our users may be having in these areas.
• A special web page was added to Oceans 2.0 to display live data from the Strait of Georgia for the Vancouver Aquarium.

26 February 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• You are now able to zoom in on the Data Search map as far as Google Maps allows.
• Improved the performance of obtaining device information once you have selected a device in Data Search.
• Completely overhauled the header of CSV files to give more information and to make it consistent regardless of which network the instrument is located on. Also modified the format of the timestamp in the data area to make it more readable.

Digital Fishers

• Modified the code to return to the default video playback behaviour in preparation for a new campaign. The only exception is that clips in the new campaign, like the old one, play for 60 seconds rather than 15 seconds.
• Modified the tutorial graphics at all levels to show specific sea life examples for the new campaign.
• Modified the annotation choices for the new campaign.
• Deployed the new campaign called "Feeding Deep Sea Critters" on February 26, 2015.

OPeNDAP

• Parsed RDI ADCP data is now available using ERDDAP. See OPeNDAP Web Services on the Tools menu.
• Made is easier for ONC data stewards to configure ERDDAP data sets.
• Made it easier to maintain ONC sensor mappings to CF standards.

Miscellaneous

• The hydrophone viewer now has additional choices for annotating marine mammals - northern right whale dolphin, Baird's beaked whale, and Cuvier's beaked whale
• Made the Citizen Scientist app more reliable.
• Merged the SoH (State of Health) seismometer FTP jobs and made the job configurable so that one job could be used for all current and future SoH seismometers.
• In Device Console, made the list of Junction Boxes and SIIMs more descriptive, added Oceanworks devices, and sorted the list by site.
• Created an FTP job for downloading data from the Queen of Oak Bay ferry.
• Implemented a server notification method for WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network) in order to notify external users of earthquakes and tsunamis.

3 February 2015

Data Search and Data Products

• It is now possible to select an instrument for searching data by clicking on it on the Data Search map or in the usual way using the search tree.
• Modified the metadata reports to show the full path for hyperlinks so this information would not be lost if the report was printed.
• Removed the Network Topology "Sort by" option from Data Search.
• Made the initial changes to support a new header format for the CSV data product.
• Improvements for Nortek ADCP data products: more information within the .mat file products on what was done to the data, improved handling of mobile data, particularly headings and rotations.

WARN (Web-enabled Awareness Research Network)

• Added a web service so that CANARIE can confirm that WARN is operational.
• Completed most of the work for the earthquake detection correlator.

Miscellaneous

• Increased the number of daily "casts" (down-up transits) of the Buoy Profiling System in Saanich Inlet from 2 to 4.
• Added the ability to control the new camera system at Brentwood College (Mill Bay site).
• Digital Fishers code was modified to support changes for the upcoming campaign titled "Feeding Critters".

Internal

• Added support for Google Universal Analytics
• Modified the way quarter scalar data is generated in order to improve reliability and speed.
• Wrote a driver for the Sea-Bird Microcat SBE37SMP-ODO and Nortek AWAC which will be deployed at the FORCE observatory in the Bay of Fundy.
• Added support for VENUS SIIM devices on the Junction Box Alarm Settings page.
• Wrote a parser for the RBR Concerto device used in the Citizen Scientist project so that data can be viewed with Plotting Utility.