IMOS - Argo Profiles: Ocean Temperature, Salinity, and Pressure Data from 2000

Argo Australia maintains an array of profiling floats that measure temperature, salinity, and pressure down to 2000m every 10 days. This collection represents all Australian Argo profiles collected since 2000, covering oceans in the southern hemisphere worldwide. The data is managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in July 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and thermal expansion based on temperature profiles.
• Analyzing salinity patterns and freshwater fluxes based on salinity measurements.
• Studying ocean circulation and water mass properties based on pressure, temperature, and salinity data.
• Validating and calibrating satellite-derived sea surface salinity data based on in-situ float profiles.

Strengths

• Data collection began in 2000, providing a multi-decadal time series.
• Profiles measure core ocean variables (temperature, salinity, pressure) down to 2000m depth.
• Floats in the Australian program reportedly last around 5 years, with some approaching 9 years of operation.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset only includes core physical data; biogeochemical parameters require accessing a separate collection.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) via the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Collection Method

Data collected by autonomous Argo profiling floats that ascend through the water column and transmit via satellite.

Time Range

2000 to present (as of July 2026).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 04:11:45.177797; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Oceans in the southern hemisphere worldwide, with focus around Australia.