Over 15 million ice draft samples were collected alongside 313 profiles of pressure, temperature, salinity, and velocity from a mooring deployed in the Beaufort Gyre. The Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project, organized by SCIOPS, gathered this data from Mooring D over a 356-day period from 2007 to 2008. The dataset was last updated in March 2009.
Use Cases
- Analyze temporal trends in ice draft from 15,364,800 upward-looking sonar samples to study sea ice variability.
- Correlate profiles of salinity and temperature from 313 McLane Moored Profiler casts to understand water mass structure.
- Model horizontal velocity data to calculate ocean current patterns and transport within the Beaufort Gyre.
- Use pressure and temperature time-series to identify seasonal cycles and extreme events during the 356-day deployment.
Strengths
- Contains 15,364,800 high-frequency samples of ice draft, pressure, and temperature from upward-looking sonar.
- Includes 313 detailed vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, salinity, and horizontal velocity.
- Data collection spans a full annual cycle of 356 days for continuous temporal analysis.
Limitations
- Bottom pressure recorder failed, resulting in no data return from that instrument.
- Data is from a single mooring location, limiting spatial representativeness.
- The dataset is over 15 years old, limiting analysis of recent Arctic changes.
Provenance
- Source
- Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project, organization SCIOPS, via NASA Earthdata.
- Collection Method
- Data gathered by instruments on a moored oceanographic platform, including a McLane Moored Profiler and an upward-looking sonar.
- Time Range
- 2007 to 2008, covering a 356-day deployment.
- Freshness
- Last updated in 2009; no update frequency specified.
- Geography
- Beaufort Gyre region of the Arctic Ocean (specific coordinates for Mooring D not provided).