Your Spotter has three (3) remotely configurable modes (Waves: Standard, Waves: Spectrum, and Track). For each mode you can set a range of update rates so you can tailor your Spotter’s behavior to your specific application needs. These changes are achieved via your Spotter’s 2-way satellite communications interface, and can be changed at any time from your Dashboard regardless of where your Spotter is in the world.
In this mode your Spotter calculates wave statistics based on a 30-minute sample period, and transmits bulk wave statistics through the satellite network (see the technical manual for more specifics on the on-board calculations of wave bulk statistics). You can select a satellite update rate of 30 minutes or 60 minutes (default). In the default setting, Spotter will include two 30-minute samples in its hourly update. The 30-minute update option can be selected if more real-time updates are required for your application, but will incur higher data usage costs
Figure 1 The Waves: Standard mode uses 30-minute sampling periods to calculate wave statistics. You can select either 30-minute or 60-minute (default) update intervals. If the 60-minute update rate is selected, two sample periods are included in a single update to the Dashboard, which saves data transfer costs. If data updates are required faster, you can set your Spotter to send updates every 30 minutes.
If Waves: Spectrum mode is activated, your Spotter transmits the variance density spectrum and directional moments (a1, b1, a2, b2) as a function of frequency (for further details, see the technical manual). In this mode, the system uses a 60-minute sample period to improve the statistical estimate of spectrum and directional moments. The user can select an update rate of between 1 and 6 hours. Update rates faster than 6 hours will incur higher data usage costs than Waves:Standard mode due to the increase in amount of data transmitted.
Figure 2 In Waves: Spectrum mode, Spotter uses a 60-minute sampling period to compute wave statistics. The user can select update intervals between 1 and 6 hours. Example for 1-hour (top), 2-hour (middle), and 3-hour (bottom) update intervals shown in figure.
In this mode, Spotter transmits five samples of its position (lat/lon) separated by 3 minutes, every 15 minutes. Measurement resolution is 1/100,000th minute of arc. This mode is designed to provide high-resolution location track data for retrieval or surface current tracking. Based on the location data, the Dashboard continuously calculates and provides a 15-minute forecast of Spotter position (to aid retrieval) and estimates surface drift rates based on differential position.
