Southern Ocean CTD Profiles from Animal-Borne Satellite Tags, 2004 Onward

CTD-SRDL instruments deployed on marine animals collected over 52,000 conductivity-temperature-depth profiles in the Southern Ocean. The Australian subset represents about one quarter of the global MEOP-CTD database, originating from 2004 and managed by the University of Tasmania and IMOS. Data includes profiles from elephant, fur, and Weddell seals, with 2024 additions from flatback and olive ridley turtles.

Use Cases

• Modeling oceanographic conditions in the Southern Ocean based on in-situ temperature and salinity measurements.
• Studying marine animal foraging behavior and habitat use based on depth and location time-series data.
• Validating satellite-derived oceanographic data using quality-controlled CTD profiles from animal-borne sensors.

Strengths

• Over 52,000 quality-controlled CTD profiles provide substantial in-situ data.
• Data spans from 2004 onward, offering a multi-decadal time series.
• Profiles are collected via satellite relay, enabling near real-time data access.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for the specific Australian subset is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to animal tagging locations in the Southern Ocean.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, as part of the MEOP-CTD database.

Collection Method

Collected via CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD-SRDLs) deployed on marine animals.

Time Range

2004 onward

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-28 02:47:20.692369; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Southern Ocean