Antarctic Glider Temperature and Salinity Profiles from 2016

Physical trajectory data from a Rutgers University glider mission in the Southern Ocean near Palmer Station. The dataset contains cross-sectional measurements of temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density collected over a 16-day deployment from February 2 to 17, 2016. Data was preserved by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information after processing by the Integrated Ocean Observing System.

Use Cases

• Analyze temperature and salinity cross-sections to study water mass structure on the continental shelf.
• Model density profiles derived from conductivity and temperature measurements to understand ocean stratification.
• Map the glider's geospatial trajectory against time-series data to correlate location with physical property changes.
• Investigate the relationship between conductivity and salinity for sensor calibration or validation studies.
• Use the 16-day time-series to examine short-term variability in the fastest winter warming region on Earth.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 16-day mission from 2016-02-02 to 2016-02-17.
• Contains multiple core physical oceanographic properties: temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density.
• Processed and checked for compliance by the Integrated Ocean Observing System's National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Limitations

• Limited temporal scope; a single 16-day snapshot may not capture seasonal or interannual variability.
• Geographic focus is restricted to the continental shelf near Palmer Station, limiting broader regional analysis.
• Unknown sample size and spatial resolution of the glider's profile measurements.

Provenance

Source

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, deployed the glider. Data archived by NOAA NCEI via IOOS NGDAC.

Collection Method

Collected by an autonomous underwater glider (ru05) taking cross-sectional profiles.

Time Range

2016-02-02 to 2016-02-17

Freshness

One-time deployment from 2016; not updated.

Geography

Southern Ocean, continental shelf near Palmer Station, West Antarctic Peninsula.