Cruise Track Planner

Tired of using an Excel file to plan your next cruise? We created a user-friendly interface for planning research expeditions, allowing scientists to add stations and visualize the track on a map, and manage the cruise schedule.

Click the link to launch the Shiny App: Cruise Track Planner

Usage

1. Launch the App: Type Rscript CruiseTrackPlanner.R or run script in R or RStudio to launch the Shiny app.
2. Upload Cruise Track (Optional):
   • click Browse to select a CSV or TSV file containing station data.
   • The file must contain the columns: StationName, Latitude, Longitude, ShipSpeed, TimeOnStation, and Operations.
   • The app will populate the map, table, and input fields with the uploaded data.
3. Edit Time Information:
   • If you did not upload a cruise track, enter the cruise start date and time in UTC in the Cruise Start Time (UTC) field.
   • Select the time zone for local time from the Time Zone for Local Time (hours) dropdown menu.
4. Create a New Station (Optional):
   • type the name of the new station in the New Station Name field.
   • Select the station after which you want to insert the new station from the Add After Station dropdown menu. The default is to add the new station at the end of the cruise track.
5. Edit Station Field Information
   • Select a station from the Select Station dropdown menu to view and edit its information.
   • Edit name: This field displays the name of the selected station. You can edit this field to change the station name.
   • Latitude (ºN): Enter the latitude of the station in decimal degrees North.
   • Longitude (ºE): Enter the longitude of the station in decimal degrees East.
   • Operations: Enter a description of the operations to be conducted at this station (e.g., CTD cast at 1000 m,Zooplankton tow at 200 m, Shipek at 1000 m).
   • Ship Speed (knots): Enter the planned ship speed in knots for traveling to this station. This will be used to calculate the travel time between stations.
   • Time on Station (hours): Enter the planned time (in hours) that the ship will spend at this station.
   • Click Save Station to save the station information.
6. Download the Cruise Track Table:
   • Click Download .csv file to download the current cruise track data as a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file.

Cruise Track Table Columns

The table displayed in the app provides a comprehensive overview of the cruise track and includes the following columns:

• Station: Name of the station.
• Latitude: Latitude of the station in decimal degrees North.
• Longitude: Longitude of the station in decimal degrees East.
• ShipSpeed: Planned ship speed in knots for traveling to this station.
• TimeOnStation: Planned time spent at the station in hours.
• ArrivalUTC: Arrival time at the station in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.
• DepartureUTC: Departure time from the station in UTC, formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.
• ArrivalLocal: Arrival time at the station in local time, formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.
• DepartureLocal: Departure time from the station in local time, formatted as YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM.
• Distance: Distance from the previous station in nautical miles.
• TravelTime: Travel time from the previous station in hours.
• Operations: Description of operations to be conducted at the station.

Dependencies

• shiny
• leaflet
• geosphere
• DT