Bering Strait 2017 Cruise: CTD Casts of Water Column Properties

NSF-Arctic Observing Network grant PLR-1304052 funded a 9-day research cruise aboard the US vessel Norseman II from July 7-15, 2017. The dataset contains 342 CTD casts measuring pressure, temperature, conductivity, oxygen, fluorescence, and turbidity in the Bering Strait and southern Chukchi Sea. Data are stored in CNV format and were collected to support mooring servicing and oceanographic section work.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical water column structure based on pressure, temperature, and conductivity profiles.
• Studying biological productivity patterns using fluorescence (a proxy for chlorophyll) measurements.
• Investigating water mass mixing and oxygen dynamics in the Arctic using dual oxygen sensor data.
• Calibrating or validating regional oceanographic models with in-situ CTD cast data.
• Examining sediment transport or water clarity trends using turbidity measurements.

Strengths

• Contains a substantial number of 342 individual CTD casts.
• Data collected with a Sea-Bird SBE911p system, a standard for high-accuracy oceanographic profiling.
• Dual sensors for temperature, conductivity, and oxygen provide redundancy and quality control.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates formal archival and importance.

Limitations

• Column names and exact data structure are not specified in the provided metadata.
• No water samples were taken, limiting biogeochemical validation beyond sensor data.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-01 vs. 2017-07-15) create uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington (PIs: Rebecca Woodgate, Patrick Heimbach, An T. Nguyen).

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected via Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) rosette casts from the R/V Norseman II.

Time Range

2017-07-07 to 2017-07-15

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:02:10.375419 (from Data.gov, though this may be a metadata update; data collection ended 2017-07-15)

Geography

Bering Strait and southern Chukchi Sea, in US waters near mooring locations and on oceanographic sections.