Great Lakes Glider Profile Data for Temperature and Salinity

Physical trajectory profile data from the Slocum glider Gichigami deployed by the University of Minnesota - Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory. The dataset contains measurements of temperature, conductivity, salinity, and density collected in the Great Lakes from September 2 to September 8, 2015. Data were archived by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) after processing by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Use Cases

• Analyze vertical profiles of temperature and salinity to identify thermocline depth and stratification.
• Map spatial distribution of density anomalies across the glider's trajectory to study water mass movement.
• Correlate conductivity measurements with salinity to calibrate sensor data or validate models.
• Use time-series of physical properties to track diurnal heating cycles or short-term environmental events.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 7-day deployment providing continuous temporal coverage.
• Includes core physical oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, conductivity, density) for water column analysis.
• Processed and aggregated into a standard netCDF format by the authoritative IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to a single week in 2015, offering no long-term temporal context.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to the specific path of one glider deployment in the Great Lakes.
• Exact sample size (number of profiles or rows) and data resolution are unknown.

Provenance

Source

University of Minnesota - Duluth; Large Lakes Observatory, archived by NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

Gathered via a Slocum glider deployment, processed and aggregated by IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Time Range

2015-09-02 to 2015-09-08

Freshness

Data is from 2015; no update frequency is specified.

Geography

Great Lakes