10.2. Viewing sensor data
10.2.1. Get started
To get started in this part of the tutorial, you first need to load your track data. Drag the file sen_tracks.rep from your Debrief directory into a new, blank session.
 | Note that you have to load tracks before loading any sensor data, since the sensor data looks for its "host track" whilst it is being loaded. Debrief will report an error message should you try to load sensor data first. |
Next drag in the sen_frig_sensor.rep and sen_ssk_sensor.rep tracks (either individually or together). The progress window will show the data being read into Debrief, after which you should see the following:
Note that by default sensor tracks are not visible when first loaded - there's a strong chance of the plot being unmanageably cluttered if they are visible when loaded. If you're inquisitive about the squiggles on the red line, read the end-note [1].
10.2.2. Viewing the sensor data
As mentioned above, you can't actually see any sensor data at the moment. you switch on the sensor data from the Layer Manager - so, open the Layer Manager from the Stepper Control:
The Layer Manager appears as shown:
Open up the Track:New_SSK layer to examine it's contents, as shown below:
As you can see before the locations within the Track the vessel's two sensors are listed.
10.2.3. Formatting the sensor data
Right-click on the New_SSK_Optic sensor, and change its visibility to true. The plot will change to appear as below:
The area where the two tracks meet now has a red-block between it. This is in fact, the series of periscope contacts from the red vessel. Zoom in on this area, to show the plot below:
As you hover your mouse over the data, the DTGs of the track positions will be shown in the tooltips. If you hover the mouse over the area between the two tracks the DTGs of the sensor contact data items will be shown (you have some unusual processing here, typically each end of a sensor contact will be over a track - so the track data item will normally be returned. So, for the sensor contact data item, an additional "hot-spot" is located half-way along the bearing line).
Right-click near the middle of one of the bearing lines, and make the sensor contact label visible. Right-click near the middle of one of them again, and select Edit Sensor Contact Data xxxxx. The properties window shows the editable aspects of sensor contact data. Whilst many familiar properties will be found there (colour, visible, label) there are also some more unusual ones:
10.2.4. Analysing the sensor data
So, now that we're zoomed in, we'll have a go at running through the serial in snail mode.
Switch to the Tote window on the left-hand side of the screen, and press to let Debrief automatically assign the tracks.
Whilst still in Normal Display Mode, jump to the end of the track by pressing the Last button:
If this isn't quite visible on the time stepper, resize the Tote to show it by dragging the slider bar to the right:
On the plot, you should see the white rectangle jump to the ends of the track. Now step backwards to the start of the contact data using the step button:
The highlight on the red track should now be before the point where the first sensor contact line starts. Now switch to snail mode, the plot should now show the two vessels with their speed/heading vectors (if the plot is blank, just press the button).
Step forward using the button, and you will see the sensor contact bearing fans appear:
The fan bearing line nearest to the current stepper time is shaded solid, whilst earlier bearing lines fade to the background colour.