Southern Ocean Glider Trajectory Profiles of Temperature and Salinity

Southern Ocean physical trajectory profile data collected by a Rutgers University glider near Palmer Station, Antarctica. The dataset contains measurements of temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density from a deployment spanning from February 1 to March 7, 2016. Data were assembled by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center and archived by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Use Cases

• Analyze temperature and salinity cross-sections to study winter warming trends on the Antarctic continental shelf.
• Model water density profiles derived from conductivity and temperature measurements to understand ocean stratification.
• Map glider trajectory paths against physical property data to visualize spatial gradients in the Southern Ocean.
• Correlate conductivity and salinity measurements to calibrate sensor data and assess data quality for time-series analysis.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 35-day mission in a critical polar region during the Antarctic summer.
• Includes core physical oceanographic properties: temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density.
• Data processed and checked for compliance with netCDF conventions by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Limitations

• Limited temporal scope to a single deployment in early 2016, restricting long-term trend analysis.
• Geographic focus is narrow, centered on the continental shelf near Palmer Station, limiting broader Southern Ocean applicability.
• Unknown sample size and row count prevents assessment of data density and statistical power.

Provenance

Source

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, deployed the glider; data archived by NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by an autonomous underwater glider, processed and aggregated into a netCDF file.

Time Range

2016-02-01 to 2016-03-07

Freshness

Data collection ended on 2016-03-07; dataset is a static archival record.

Geography

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