Saildrone Arctic 2019: Surface and ADCP Measurements from Uncrewed Vehicles

Six wind-powered Saildrone uncrewed surface vehicles collected a 150-day, near real-time multivariate dataset in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during 2019. The campaign, jointly funded by NOAA and NASA, specifically targeted the marginal ice zone to measure air-sea-ice interactions and validate satellite sea-surface temperature products. Each vehicle was equipped with a suite of instruments measuring atmospheric conditions, ocean surface properties, chlorophyll fluorescence, and currents via an acoustic Doppler current profiler.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite sea-surface temperature (SST) algorithms based on in-situ skin temperature and seawater temperature measurements.
• Modeling diurnal warming and air-sea heat fluxes in the Arctic using concurrent atmospheric and ocean surface data.
• Studying phytoplankton dynamics in marginal ice zones using chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetically active radiation columns.
• Analyzing current profiles and ocean circulation near sea ice using 300 kHz acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) data.
• Investigating surface wind patterns and wave conditions in the Chukchi Sea from wind speed, direction, wave height, and period measurements.

Strengths

• Data was collected by six autonomous vehicles over a continuous 150-day mission from 14 May to 11 October 2019.
• Instruments provide a concurrent, multivariate set of over 15 parameters, including atmospheric, oceanographic, and biogeochemical variables.
• The dataset's cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and curation for the scientific community.

Limitations

• Column names and precise data structure are not provided in the available metadata, complicating initial analysis.
• The exact row count and file sizes are listed as unknown or 'None' across all platforms.
• One platform lists a last update date of 2026, which conflicts with the 2019 campaign end date and suggests metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Collection Method

Deployment of six wind and solar-powered Saildrone uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) equipped with instrument suites.

Time Range

14 May 2019 to 11 October 2019

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:46:09.083036 (Data.gov); this date is inconsistent with the 2019 data collection period.

Geography

Bering and Chukchi Seas, Alaskan arctic waters, including transects approaching the sea ice edge.