Southern Ocean Temperature, Salinity, and Oxygen Atlas

38,000 hydrographic stations provide gridded fields of temperature, salinity, and oxygen at 42 standard depths. The atlas, produced by AWI and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, was compiled in 1990 using a large collection of historical and recent Southern Ocean observations. It features a 1x1 degree resolution grid south of 30 degrees South.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of ocean temperature and salinity at standard depths to study water mass formation.
• Map oxygen concentration fields to assess biogeochemical cycles and marine ecosystem health in the Southern Ocean.
• Use the provided error maps to evaluate the reliability of interpolated parameter fields for climate model validation.
• Compare gridded historical data from this atlas with modern satellite or in-situ measurements to detect long-term trends.

Strengths

• Data from over 38,000 validated hydrographic stations.
• Gridded fields provided at 42 standard depths with 1x1 degree resolution.
• Includes error maps for assessing field reliability.

Limitations

• Last updated in 1990, making the data temporally stale for contemporary climate studies.
• Spatial coverage is limited to the region south of 30 degrees South.
• Specific sample size and file format details are unavailable.

Provenance

Source

Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) and Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, with data from many other institutions.

Collection Method

Compiled from historical atlases and recent observations, validated, and interpolated using Objective Interpolation.

Time Range

Primarily incorporates data from the 1970s and 1980s, up to 1990.

Freshness

1990-03-25

Geography

Southern Ocean, south of 30 degrees South latitude.