SWOT Prelaunch Campaign: Moored Fixed-Depth CTD Measurements

SWOT 2019-2020 prelaunch field campaign deployed a full-depth mooring with fixed-depth CTD sensors below 500 meters, located about 300 kilometers west of Monterey, California. The campaign was designed to test instrument performance for the SWOT satellite's Calibration/Validation requirements. These conductivity, temperature, and depth measurements complement data from a WireWalker profiler and other deployed instruments.

Use Cases

• Calibrating SWOT satellite sea surface height data based on in-situ oceanographic measurements.
• Analyzing deep ocean (>500m) temperature and salinity structure from fixed-depth time series.
• Validating ocean models using conductivity, temperature, and depth profiles from a multi-instrument campaign.
• Studying oceanographic conditions near the SWOT CalVal crossover location off the California coast.

Strengths

• Data is part of a coordinated, multi-platform field campaign designed for satellite Cal/Val.
• Provides fixed-depth measurements below 500m, complementing a WireWalker profiler on the same mooring.
• Campaign deployed near a strategic SWOT calibration location (~300 km west of Monterey).

Limitations

• Column names and row counts are not provided in any source, limiting immediate understanding of data structure.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026 vs. 2020) across platforms create uncertainty about metadata freshness.
• Documentation and user guide are referenced but not directly accessible from the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from fixed-depth CTD sensors mounted on a full-depth mooring.

Time Range

September 2019 to January 2020

Freshness

2026-04-09 21:52:53.807822

Geography

Approximately 300 kilometers west of Monterey, California, USA.