Variable,Explanation
STADATE,"date of tow, YYYYMMDD"
SYSTEM,"CL (Chesapeake lower), JA (James River), RA (Rappahannock River), YK (York River)"
TBEGIN,"time begin (HHMMSS; tows are typically 5 minutes in duration, but see TEND)"
TDEPTH,tow depth (meters)
STATION ,"station number, not unique"
CRUISENO ,"cruise number, letters are system, first 2 numerical digits = year, next two = month, last two = day"
TEND ,time end (HHMMSS)
STRATUM ,our way of dividing up the bay and rivers into discrete sections for station selection
YEAR ,year
MONTH ,month
Lat_beg,latitude at beginning of tow
Lon_beg,longitude at beginning of tow
Lat_end ,latitude at end of tow
Lon_end ,longitude at end of tow
botm_temp ,"bottom temperature at end of tow, oC"
botm_DO,"bottom dissolved oxygen, mg/L"
botm_salinity ,"bottom salinity, ppt"
surf_temp ,"surface temperature taken 1 m below surface, oC"
surf_DO ,"surface DO taken 1 m below surface, mg/L"
surf_salinity ,"surface salinity taken 1 m below surface,  ppt"