Saildrone Baja: Ocean and Atmosphere Measurements

Saildrone Baja campaign collected oceanographic and atmospheric data during a 60-day autonomous cruise from San Francisco Bay to Guadalupe Island between 11 April 2018 and 11 June 2018. The dataset includes high-resolution near-surface observations and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements. Its scientific objectives focused on upwelling dynamics, air-sea interactions, and validating satellite data and models.

Use Cases

• Studying upwelling and frontal region dynamics based on CTD and temperature logger data.
• Analyzing air-sea interactions using concurrent measurements of wind speed, air temperature, and sea surface temperature.
• Validating satellite-derived ocean data products using the platform's in-situ sea surface skin temperature and chlorophyll-a measurements.
• Assessing ocean current profiles and variability using depth-resolved ADCP current vector data.
• Investigating diurnal warming effects using high-frequency (1-minute) sea surface temperature records.

Strengths

• Provides concurrent atmospheric and oceanographic measurements from a single autonomous platform.
• Offers high temporal resolution with near-surface data at 1-minute intervals and ADCP data at 5-minute bins.
• Includes depth-resolved current profiles to 100m at 2m intervals from the ADCP.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2018-06-11 on NASA Earthdata vs. 2026-04-09 on Data.gov).
• The dataset is from a single, time-bound campaign, limiting spatial and temporal generalizability.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by an instrumented, autonomous Saildrone unmanned surface vehicle.

Time Range

11 April 2018 to 11 June 2018

Freshness

2026-04-09 (most recent update from Data.gov)

Geography

Eastern Pacific Ocean, from San Francisco Bay along the US/Mexico coast to Guadalupe Island