2025.07.29

sdpmf

this summer, i have been working on a data engineering project within my lab to establish a data processing/management framework for the SECOORA Glider Observatory.

gliders, particularly the Slocum kind, collect data typically stored in .dbd (flight computer) and .ebd (science computer) files. the data flow from .*bd to something more tangible is quite a process, but the short explanation is after converting .*bd to ASCII (which i do not have to do fortunately), the .dbdasc and .ebdasc can be turned into .mat files, which is primarily what I and the folks at SECOORA use to play around with this data.

inspiration for my framework, conveniently named the Slocum Data Processing and Management Framework (SDPMF), is taken from the way NASA organizes their Standard Data Products. ranging from L0 to L4, each processing level introduces something new to provide better clarity and utility for each data file.

work on this is still in the early stages, but we have provided preliminary MATLAB scripts to process at the L1 CTD (thermal lag correction) and L2 (gridding); ECO L1, DO L1, and finalized L2 after the prior are done are a work in progress.