Triaxus Oceanographic Sensor Data from Antarctic Circumpolar Current Voyage

5 Triaxus tows collected 121.75 hours of sensor data during the RV Investigator voyage IN2023_V07 from November 15 to December 20, 2023. The dataset includes CTD, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, fluorescence, and plankton measurements. It was gathered by CSIRO to validate SWOT satellite observations and study small-scale dynamics in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Use Cases

• Validate SWOT satellite sea surface height observations using in-situ CTD (pressure, conductivity, temperature) and dissolved oxygen profiles.
• Correlate small-scale sea surface height variability with subsurface ocean structure using concurrent sensor data from the Triaxus platform.
• Quantify cross-frontal transport of heat and carbon by analyzing biogeochemical sensor data (nitrate, fluorescence, transmissometer) across the ACC meander.
• Investigate plankton distribution and abundance using Laser Optical Plankton Counter (LOPC) data in relation to physical water column properties.
• Characterize eddy activity and small-scale motions by analyzing high-resolution time-series data from the undulating towed vehicle.

Strengths

• Data from 5 distinct tows provides spatial replication across the study region.
• 121.75 total hours of high-resolution, multidisciplinary sensor measurements.
• Duplicate sensors for core CTD and dissolved oxygen parameters enhance data reliability.

Limitations

• Software crashes and failures to maintain undulation schedules occurred during data collection, potentially causing gaps.
• Sample size is limited to 5 tows within a specific meander region south of Tasmania.
• Data format includes HTML and PNG, which may require extraction and conversion for numerical analysis.

Provenance

Source

CSIRO Marlin Data Catalogue

Collection Method

Data collected via towed Triaxus platform (hull #2) equipped with Seabird SBE9plus CTD and multiple biogeochemical sensors.

Time Range

November 15, 2023 to December 20, 2023

Freshness

Data from late 2023, last catalog update in April 2026.

Geography

Southern Ocean, in a standing meander of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current south of Tasmania, departing from and returning to Hobart.