Coastal Glider CTD Measurements from Mid-Atlantic Bight

A 22-day deployment of the Slocum glider RU28 collected Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) measurements in New Jersey's shallow coastal waters from May 1 to May 22, 2018. Rutgers University's Center for Ocean Observing Leadership deployed the glider for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's yearly oxygen monitoring program. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives the data, which was aggregated and quality-checked by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Use Cases

• Analyze temperature and salinity profiles over the glider's 22-day trajectory to study coastal water mass structure.
• Model density variations from measured conductivity and temperature data to understand stratification in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
• Correlate the physical CTD measurements with future oxygen data releases to assess dissolved oxygen dynamics.
• Map the glider's spatiotemporal path to validate or calibrate regional ocean circulation models.
• Establish baseline physical property data for New Jersey's yearly coastal monitoring efforts.

Strengths

• Data covers a continuous 22-day observation period in a key coastal region.
• Measurements include core physical oceanographic properties: temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density.
• Data underwent aggregation and convention compliance checks by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Limitations

• Dataset currently provides only CTD measurements; critical parameters like dissolved oxygen are pending quality assessment.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a single spring deployment, restricting seasonal analysis.
• Spatial coverage is confined to the specific glider track within the New Jersey coastal zone.

Provenance

Source

Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RU COOL), via IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center and NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements from a deployed Slocum glider, aggregated into netCDF files.

Time Range

2018-05-01 to 2018-05-22

Freshness

Data collection ended on 2018-05-22; no update frequency specified.

Geography

Shallow coastal waters of New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic Bight.