SASSIE: Arctic Ocean Under-Ice Float Measurements Fall 2022

Beaufort Sea observations from September 10 to October 22, 2022, collected by an autonomous under-ice float during the NASA SASSIE field campaign. The dataset contains in situ measurements of ocean temperature, salinity, and acoustic range, targeting the transition from summer melt to autumn ice advance. Data are provided in netCDF format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing stratification changes based on concurrent temperature and salinity profiles.
• Studying the effect of salinity anomalies from melting ice on sea surface temperature.
• Tracking the spatial and temporal evolution of the sea ice edge using acoustic range data.
• Validating remote sensing observations with in situ measurements from the Beaufort Sea.

Strengths

• Provides a focused, high-resolution time series over a critical six-week transition period in the Arctic.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals importance and formal curation.
• Data collection targeted a specific, scientifically relevant zone within ~200 km of the sea ice edge.

Limitations

• Column names and precise row counts are not provided in any source, limiting immediate assessment of data structure.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2022-10 23 vs. 2026-04-09) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• Documentation of specific instruments, processing levels, and detailed license terms is absent from the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

NASA SASSIE (Salinity and Stratification at the Sea Ice Edge) project.

Collection Method

Field campaign using an autonomous under-ice float for in situ measurements.

Time Range

2022-08-01 to 2022-10-31 (campaign), 2022-09-10 to 2022-10-22 (float deployment).

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:44:04.970850

Geography

Beaufort Sea, within ~200 km of the sea ice edge.