Seaglider Oceanographic Measurements from Washington Coast Deployment

Seaglider SG012 collected temperature, salinity, and depth-averaged current data along sawtooth trajectories in the North Pacific Ocean. This buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicle was deployed by the University of Washington for NOAA NCEI. The mission lasted from December 23, 2004, to January 25, 2005.

Use Cases

• Analyze temperature and salinity profiles to study coastal water mass structure and mixing.
• Model depth-averaged current measurements to understand coastal circulation patterns.
• Validate oceanographic models using in-situ physical data from an autonomous glider platform.
• Study the performance and data yield of a Seaglider AUV during a specific winter deployment.

Strengths

• Data collected by a specialized, buoyancy-driven autonomous underwater vehicle designed for long-duration missions.
• Measurements include key physical oceanographic variables like temperature and salinity.
• Clear temporal coverage from December 23, 2004, to January 25, 2005.

Limitations

• Specific row count, column details, and file formats are unknown.
• Data is from a single vehicle deployment, limiting spatial and temporal generalizability.
• Dataset is nearly 20 years old, which may limit relevance for studying current ocean conditions.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from University of Washington researchers.

Collection Method

Data gathered by Seaglider SG012, an autonomous underwater vehicle gliding on programmed sawtooth trajectories.

Time Range

2004-12 23 to 2005-01-25

Freshness

Last updated 2005-01-25; historical dataset with no stated update frequency.

Geography

Coastal waters of Washington/Oregon in the North Pacific Ocean.