SPURS-2: Central Mooring Oceanographic and Meteorological Time Series

SPURS-2 deployed a central mooring at 10°N, 125°W in the eastern tropical Pacific from August 2016 to November 2017 to study rainfall-dominated surface salinity dynamics. The dataset provides continuous, co-located time series of subsurface ocean temperature, salinity, and currents alongside surface meteorological observations like wind, air temperature, and radiative fluxes. This in-situ data from a 4769-meter deep site complements satellite salinity measurements from Aquarius, SMAP, and SMOS.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the relationship between precipitation events and near-surface salinity changes based on co-located precipitation rate and conductivity data.
• Studying vertical current profiles and zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current using ADCP sensor data.
• Validating and calibrating remotely sensed salinity fields from SMAP and SMOS satellites with in-situ conductivity measurements.
• Modeling air-sea heat fluxes using time series of shortwave/longwave radiation, sea temperature, and skin temperature.
• Investigating the seasonal variability of the oceanic fresh pool using a continuous 15-month record of salinity and temperature.

Strengths

• Provides a continuous 15-month time series from a single, strategically located mooring deployed at a precise location (N10:03.0481, W125:01.939).
• Integrates multiple sensor types, offering co-located subsurface oceanographic (CTD, ADCP) and surface meteorological (wind, flux, precipitation) data.
• Data collection was part of a coordinated NASA field campaign (SPURS-2) involving multiple vessels and satellite validation.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and a definitive author are missing or inconsistent across platforms.
• The data format is listed as a union of BIN, PDF, ISO, and JPEG, suggesting ancillary files are included, but the core netCDF data structure is not explicitly detailed in the provided columns.
• One source lists a last update date of 2026-04 09, which is a future date and conflicts with the more plausible 2017 date from another source, indicating potential metadata errors.

Provenance

Source

NASA-funded SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project, likely from WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) based on file attribution.

Collection Method

In-situ sampling from a central ocean mooring equipped with a surface meteorological package, CTD, ADCP sensors, and point current meters.

Time Range

August 24, 2016 to November 11, 2017

Freshness

2026-04-09 22:45:05.716647

Geography

Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, specifically near 10°N, 125°W