Argo Float Data: Ocean Temperature and Salinity Profiles from Australian Waters

More than 3,000 autonomous floats collect high-quality temperature and salinity measurements from the upper 2000 meters of the world's ice-free oceans. Each float completes approximately 150 cycles, surfacing every 10 days to transmit data via satellite. This dataset from Argo Australia and the Australian Ocean Data Network provides real-time observations of oceans surrounding Australia.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and climate change impacts based on temperature profiles from the upper 2000 meters.
• Analyzing ocean salinity patterns and freshwater fluxes based on high-quality salinity measurements.
• Studying mid-depth ocean currents and circulation based on float drift data.
• Developing algorithms for autonomous sensor data assimilation based on the regular 10-day profiling cycle.

Strengths

• Data is collected by a global network of more than 3,000 autonomous profiling floats.
• Each float is designed for approximately 150 high-quality measurement cycles.
• Profiles capture temperature and salinity from the upper 2000 meters of the ocean.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Argo Australia focus.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, Argo Australia, and the International Argo program.

Collection Method

Measurements gathered by autonomous floats that drift at depth and ascend every 10 days, transmitting data via satellite.

Time Range

null

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 12:22:15.339771; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Oceans surrounding Australia and global ice-free oceans.