Ocean Glider Physical Profile Data from Caribbean Sea Deployment in 2019

October 2019 data from an autonomous underwater glider (RU29) deployed by Rutgers University's Center for Ocean Observing Leadership in the Caribbean Sea. The dataset contains physical oceanographic profile measurements including temperature, salinity, conductivity, and density. It was collected as part of the Challenger Glider Mission and archived by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Use Cases

• Modeling heat transport between the Caribbean Sea and Tropical North Atlantic using temperature and density profiles along the glider's transect.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of salinity and conductivity around the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla.
• Validating regional ocean forecast models by assimilating time-series profile data from the Anegada Passage.
• Studying water column structure during the late 2019 period using concurrent measurements of temperature, salinity, and density.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 22-day mission from October 10 to October 31, 2019.
• Includes multiple core physical oceanographic variables (temperature, salinity, conductivity, density) per profile.
• Collected by an established academic ocean observing program (RU COOL) and archived by NOAA NCEI.

Limitations

• Current profile data is explicitly noted as unavailable in this dataset.
• Temporal coverage is limited to a single month, restricting analysis of seasonal patterns.
• Geographic scope is focused on a specific Caribbean region, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Measurements collected by autonomous underwater glider RU29, aggregated into netCDF files, checked for convention compliance, and submitted for archival.

Time Range

2019-10-10 to 2019-10-31

Freshness

Data is from late 2019; no update frequency indicated.

Geography

Caribbean Sea, specifically Anegada Passage and surrounding island regions including US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Anguilla.