OMG AXBT Profiles: Ocean Temperature Depth Profiles Around Greenland

Level 2 in situ temperature profile measurements were collected by Airborne eXpendable BathyThermograph (AXBT) probes jettisoned from aircraft around Greenland in the falls of 2020 and 2021. The data provides science-quality water temperature as a function of depth, derived from a sensor falling at a calibrated rate, for the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission. Its primary goal is to quantify the ocean's contribution to the melting of Greenland's glaciers.

Use Cases

• Modeling ocean heat content and its impact on glacial melt rates based on calibrated temperature-depth profiles.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal variability of continental shelf water properties around Greenland from airborne surveys.
• Validating satellite-derived sea surface temperature data with in-situ subsurface measurements.
• Studying the relationship between ocean temperature at depth and ice-ocean interaction at glacier fronts.

Strengths

• Provides science-quality, calibrated in-situ measurements where ship-based surveys are difficult.
• Data collection is part of a targeted, multi-year mission (OMG) with deployments specifically in 2020 and 2021.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals its importance and curated status.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided in any source, limiting immediate usability.
• Metadata conflicts exist: one source lists a last update date of 2026-04 09, while another lists 2021-09-16.
• The exact spatial and temporal resolution, as well as the total number of profiles, is unspecified.

Provenance

Source

Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission, likely via NASA/JPL PO.DAAC (POCLOUD).

Collection Method

Airborne-deployed expendable probes (AXBTs) measuring temperature as a weighted sensor falls through the water column.

Time Range

Fall 2020 and Fall 2021.

Freshness

2026-04-09 23:18:51.583873 (conflict with 2021-09-16 date noted)

Geography

Continental shelf waters surrounding Greenland.