U.S./Chinese Ship of Opportunity Sampling Program Phase II is a joint project with the Polar Research Institute of China to measure the upper ocean structure in the northern Weddell Sea. Observations were obtained from expendable instruments aboard the supply vessel R/V Xue Long, complementing existing hydrographic data. The dataset was last updated on 2008-12-31.
Use Cases
- Modeling upper ocean temperature and salinity structure based on expendable bathythermograph and CTD probe data.
- Analyzing correlative links between polar ocean conditions, sea ice edge, and extra-polar climate features.
- Studying the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Antarctic Circumpolar Wave in the Indian Ocean sector.
- Complementing existing hydrographic transect and moored current meter data in the Weddell-Scotia confluence zone.
Strengths
- Data collection builds upon a successful series of measurements obtained over the past four years.
- Provides ocean soundings along a west-to-east Weddell Sea transit route otherwise unobtainable.
- An excellent working relationship with Chinese antarctic scientists was developed for the project.
Limitations
- Last updated 2008 12 31 23 59 59 999000; freshness should be verified.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- AMD_USAPDC, in collaboration with the Polar Research Institute of China.
- Collection Method
- Measurements from expendable instruments (e.g., XBTs, CTDs) aboard the R/V Xue Long supply vessel.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2008-12-31 23:59:59.999000.
- Geography
- Northern Weddell Sea, Antarctic, along the ship's transit route.