Southern Ocean CTD and Bottle Data from 1995 Aurora Australis Cruise

A 1995 oceanographic cruise collected 208 CTD vertical profile stations and over 2300 water samples in the Southern Ocean between Tasmania and Antarctica. Measurements include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, and biological parameters from July to September 1995. The dataset was produced by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC).

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical water column structure using pressure, temperature (C) (ITS-90), and salinity (PSS78) profiles from 208 stations.
• Study biogeochemical cycles by correlating dissolved oxygen (mmol.l-1) and nutrient concentrations (e.g., phosphate, silicate) with fluorescence and photosynthetically active radiation.
• Assess data quality and measurement uncertainty by examining the standard deviation of temperature values in the 2 dbar bin and bottle quality flag.
• Map cruise track and station locations using start position, bottom position, and finish position fields for spatial analysis.
• Investigate near-surface currents by integrating ship mounted ADCP data with station-based CTD pressure (dbar) and geopotential anomaly measurements.

Strengths

• 208 CTD vertical profile stations provide detailed spatial coverage of the study region.
• Over 2300 Niskin bottle samples enable high-resolution analysis of multiple water properties.
• Includes quality control metrics such as standard deviation of conductivity values in the 2 dbar bin and bottle quality flag.

Limitations

• Data is from a single cruise in 1995, limiting temporal analysis and modern climate comparisons.
• Only 64 stations reached near bottom, while 144 were limited to 500m depth, providing incomplete full-water-column coverage for most stations.
• Unknown sample size (rows) and file format details may complicate initial data loading.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Oceanographic measurements from ship-based CTD casts and Niskin bottle sampling during the Aurora Australis cruise au9501.

Time Range

July to September 1995.

Freshness

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Geography

Southern Ocean along the WOCE SR3 meridional section between Tasmania and Antarctica, and south of the Antarctic Divergence.