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v.368X

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
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Introduction

This quick start guide is designed to help participants quickly learn how to use the NGRL to acquire data, load it to the laboratory information management system (LIMS), and retrieve it again. It is not intended to replace the user guide.
The NGRL instrument detects gamma events resulting from the decay of radioactive nuclides in the material under study.
See NGRL Users Guide and

Table of Contents

Introduction


The Natural Gamma Ray Logger (NGRL) measures the amount of natural gamma radiation within whole-round core sections. See 'NGRL User Guide' and 'Technical Note 26: Physical Properties handbook for additional detail.

Getting Started

Open the NGR application by double-clicking the IMS ' for additional details.

The IMS software for the NGRL does not produce “KUT” data.  Scientists are welcome to use a Matlab code for this purpose here (NGR Quantification of U, K, and Th).

Procedures

  • Preparing the Instrument

  1. Double-click the MUT icon on the desktop (Figure

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  1. 1a) and login using ship credentials. For more information on data uploading see the "Uploading Data to LIMS" section below.
  2. Double-click the IMS icon (Figure 1b). IMS

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  1. initializes the

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  1. instrument and

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  1. checks the movement of the track. Once initialized, the logger is ready to measure

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  1. the first section.

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Figure 1. (a) MUT Icon. (b) IMS

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Icon.

Measure a Sample

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  • Preparing Sections

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Data Review

To obtain a tabular view of the data, browse to LIMS Reports (LORE) at http://web.ship.iodp.tamu.edu/LORE/. To obtain a graphical view of the data, browse to the LIMS Viewer (LIVE) at http://web.ship.iodp.tamu.edu/LIVE/. Both tools have user guides to explain their use if needed.

Versioning

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  1. Wipe off excess moisture and/or mud off from the core liner.
  2. Tape over any holes on core liner using tapeLoad a section for analysis.
    • Seat the section in the titanium boat (Figure 2). The blue end cap ("top") should be near the NGRL door opening.
    • The barcode label is visible, ready to be scanned; it does not matter whether the archive- or working-half label is scanned.

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    Figure 2: Core section sitting in the loading tray.

    Click START (Figure 3).
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    Figure 3: NGR Program Main Window. The 'Start' button is outlined in red.
    A sample information dialog displays (Figure 4). Pressing Cancel closes this panel and returns to the main display.
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    Figure 4: Sample Information Window. Scan section label, information is parsed out into the Sample ID and LIMS ID fields. The 'User Length' field (red square) requires input in order to run a measurement.
  3. Ensure the cursor is in the Text ID field and scan either of the core section's barcode labels, A-half or W-half work equally well. Check to be sure all sample information has populated the windows properly. If the experiment is run with incorrect sample information the section will need to be rescanned.
  4. Enter sample length observed into the 'User Length' field. Round the sample length to the nearest whole cm. Be careful to observe the actual length of the material in the core liner, not just the end cap and to be consistent in how length is determined from measurement to measurement. The "Measure" button will become available once the user has clicked out of the user length field.
    5. Click MEASURE.
    This starts the automated measurement: the boat moves to the home position, and then moves to measurement position two and begins measurement. Approximately halfway into the measurement, the boat is pulled out 10 cm to measurement position one (this will not occur if the user has chosen only to measure one position on a high-recovery cruise). The bar on the left side of the screen tracks the progress of each measurement (Fig 5. Outlined in red)
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    Figure 5: Run Window. Spectra and Total Counts can be seen. There are also tabs for the individual detectors at the top of the screen that can be selected.
  5. When the measurement is complete, the titanium boat will return to original load position.
    6. If the measurement needs to be aborted press the ABORT (Fig. 6) button seen on the main display.
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    Figure 6: ABORT. User can choose between three options as seen.
    Update the instrument log sheet. It is very important to fill out the log sheet consistently in order for the technician to be able to assist the user in sorting out any problems after the fact.

Load the Results

All data are stored locally in C:\data\ngr\
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To upload acquired data to LIMS.

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Figure 7: LIMS Data Uploader
Click the check-box next to Automatic Upload.

  1. drill holes, when applicable.


Note: All core sections entering the NGR must be completely dry. Any moisture or liquid present will DAMAGE the instrument.


  • Making a Measurement

Note: If you would like to change measurement parameters, please contact the PP technician.

  1. Place section in the core tray. Make sure the section is oriented blue endcap towards the instrument, and is placed against the top of the metal boat (Figure 2).


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Figure 2. Correct core position.

2. Click Start. The Section Information screen is displayed (Figure 3).

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Figure 3. NGR Section Information screen. User Length box is marked in the red square.

3. Place the cursor in the SCAN field and scan the section label. SAMPLE ID and LIMS ID automatically fills. This ID tag contains information on expedition, site, hole, core, section number and length.

    Additional entry field options are the LIMS and MANUAL tabs.

4. Enter sample length into User Length text box. Round down to the nearest centimeter.

5. Double-click MEASURE.

6. The boat moves to the first measurement position, and begins measurements. Once finished, if selected, the boat moves to the second position, and begins measurements. The typical measurement rate is 300 seconds per position. Real time graphs are displayed during acquisition (Figure 4). The graphs display the counts for each detector at each position, also the full spectra for each detector.


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Figure 4. NGR real-time graphs.

7. Once the measurement is complete, the boat returns to the load position.

8. All instrument data are stored in C:\DATA\IN.

9. MUT is used to upload data to the LIMS database. See section "Uploading Data to LIMS" for more information.

10. Once uploaded, data is available to view on LORE and LIVE. If data is not instantly visible, please contact the PP technician.

Uploading Data to LIMS

  1. Click the MUT Icon. Log in using database credentials.
  2. Once activated, the list of files from the C:\DATA\IN directory is displayed. Files are marked ready for upload by a green check mark (Figure 5).

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Figure 5. Main MUT screen

3. To manually upload files, check each file individually and clip upload. To automatically upload files, click on the Automatic Upload checkbox.

4. If files are marked by a purple question mark or red and white X icons, please contact a technician.
    Purple question mark: Cannot identify the file.

    Red and white X icons: Contains file errors.

5. Upon upload, data is moved to C:\DATA\Archive. If upload is unsuccessful, data is automatically moved to C:\DATA\Error. Please contact the PP technician is this occurs.


Credits

This document originated from the web page "NGR Quick Start Guide (IMS-378P)" by Ty Cobb on Exp 368X. Credits for subsequent changes to this document are given in the page history.

All improvements to the Quick Start Guides and User Guides are a communal effort, with honorable mention to the group of LOs, ALOs, and technicians who have helped.


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