SPURS-1: Drifter Trajectory Data for North Atlantic Salinity Study

83 drifters were deployed during the SPURS-1 oceanographic campaign in 2012-2013. The dataset aggregates near-surface salinity, temperature, and georeferenced trajectory data from these Lagrangian sensor platforms within a 900 x 800-mile study area in the subtropical North Atlantic. It was collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of a process study to understand salinity variations.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface ocean currents based on Lagrangian drifter trajectory data.
• Analyzing the relationship between sea surface salinity and temperature from co-located sensor measurements.
• Validating satellite-derived salinity fields from Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS using in-situ drifter observations.
• Studying processes maintaining the subtropical salinity maximum based on data from a targeted high-salinity region.

Strengths

• Data from 83 individual drifter deployments provides spatial coverage.
• Combines multiple data streams: GPS/ARGOS trajectories, salinity, and temperature measurements.
• Focuses on a defined 900 x 800-mile study area for a targeted process study.
• Integrates data from both US and European drifter deployments during the campaign.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is stored in netCDF format, which may require specific tools for analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Deployment of approximately 83 standard Surface Velocity Program (SVP) drifters with added salinity sensors (SVP/S) during a series of 5 cruises.

Time Range

2012 - 2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:09:24.257933; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Subtropical North Atlantic, within a 900 x 800-mile square centered at 25N, 38W.