A Spotter’s data mode determines which data products the Spotter transmits to the Dashboard and API, and the associated update or processing rate determines how often they are transmitted.

You can change these mode configurations in the Spotter Dashboard to tailor the Spotter’s behavior to your individual applications.

In this guide, you’ll get an overview of the available data modes and learn how to configure them.

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Table of Contents

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A note on Smart Mooring: Smart Mooring sensors have their own distinct reading, sampling, and transmission settings. They do not follow the update or processing schedule determined by the Spotter’s mode configurations. See Smart Mooring Sensors for more details.

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Available data modes

All onboard calculations and parameter definitions follow standard oceanographic practice (see e.g., Kuik et al. 1988, J. Phys. Ocean.).

The specific definitions of Spotter-calculated parameters are provided here:

🔗 Spotter Technical Reference Manual

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Data mode	Data processing source	Data products	Update rate(s)¹	Processing rate(s)²	Sample duration	Recommended applications
Waves: Standard	Embedded (i.e., onboard the Spotter)	Bulk wave statistics	• 30 minutes
• 1 hour	N/A	30 minutes	Routine marine monitoring
Waves: Partition	Embedded	Bulk wave and partitioned statistics	• 1 hour	N/A	1 hour	Reviewing sea and swell partitions separately
Waves: Spectrum	Embedded	Wave spectrum and directional moments	• 1 hour
• 2 hour
• 3 hour
• 4 hour
• 5 hour
• 6 hour	N/A	1 hour	Deeper analysis, modeling, and science
High Data Rate (HDR)
Cellular only	HDR (i.e., in the backend)	Bulk, partition and spectral data products	N/A	• 15 minutes
• 20 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 60 minutes	Same as processing rate	Accessing Standard, Partition, and Spectrum data from cellular-equipped Spotters deployed in nearshore environments
Track	Embedded	Forecast of Spotter position and estimated surface drift rates based on differential position	• 15 minutes	N/A	15 minutes	Retrieving your Spotter or tracking surface currents

¹The cadence at which Spotter transmits preprocessed embedded data products to the Dashboard and API.

²The cadence at which Spotter processes transmitted displacement data into HDR data products.

Unless it is in Track mode, Spotter also transmits the following:

A wind sample for each wave sample
The average station pressure over the sample period
The average sea surface temperature (SST) over the sample period*

*SST samples are only transmitted by Spotters with an onboard SST sensor (i.e., Spotters without Smart Mooring).

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Take a look at Onboard Sensor Data for more information on how onboard sensor data is sampled and reported.

Waves: Standard

In Waves: Standard mode, Spotter calculates bulk wave statistics over a 30-minute sample period. The standard bulk statistics include the following parameters:

Position (latitude and longitude)
Significant wave height
Peak and mean wave period
Peak and mean wave direction