Global Underway Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity from Thermosalinographs

NOAA AOML assembles this global collection of high-frequency sea surface measurements from ships and other platforms. The dataset includes sea surface salinity, water temperature, latitude, longitude, and time, with temporal resolutions ranging from 6-second to 5-minute point values. Data are transmitted in real-time and have undergone a quality control procedure, with results distributed in netCDF and ASCII formats.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived sea surface salinity and temperature products based on in-situ point measurements.
• Studying ocean frontal dynamics and mesoscale features using high-resolution geospatial and temporal data.
• Assimilating quality-controlled, real-time observations into operational ocean forecasting models.
• Analyzing long-term trends in sea surface properties for climate change research, supported by the dataset's time range.
• Calibrating shipboard thermosalinograph sensors against a standardized quality control procedure.

Strengths

• Covers a long and ongoing time series from October 7, 2001, to the present.
• Includes data quality flags from a documented NOAA AOML quality control procedure.
• Provides high temporal resolution measurements, with some data points as frequent as every 6 seconds.
• Represents a complete collection of data received by the authoritative source (AOML).

Limitations

• Column names and a precise row count are not provided in the available metadata.
• The exact spatial coverage (specific ocean basins or routes) is not detailed, only implied as global.
• Metadata regarding license, specific author, and precise data volume is missing from the sources.

Provenance

Source

NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)

Collection Method

Assembled from thermosalinographs on multiple ships/platforms, transmitted in real-time.

Time Range

2001-10-07 to present

Freshness

Last updated metadata on March 5, 2026; data collection is ongoing.

Geography

Global, from ships and other moving platforms (specific regions not detailed)