Data Access Options
Project
Consortium on the Ocean's Role in Climate
Date Range
2021-05-05 to 2021-12-06
Sensors
This file contains data from the following specific instruments: Sea-Bird SBE 41CP CTD, Seapoint chlorophyll fluorometer.
Summary
Spray glider data from mission 21504801, part of the Consortium on the ocean's role in climate project. This is the complete science-quality dataset for the full mission, spanning from 2021-05-05 to 2021-12-06.
CORC (Consortium on the Ocean's Role in Climate) has been making observations of the California Current systems with moorings since 2008. In support of these mooring deployments, gliders serve as data shuttles to communicate with the underwater mooring gear, as well as collect additional data near or between the moorings. These glider operations are conducted by Principal Investigator Uwe Send. There are additional sustained glider measurements by PI D. Rudnick in the same general area as part of the California Underwater Glider Network. Glider data reported here are temperature and salinity, as well as column-average currents based on lateral glider displacement between dives.
This is a delayed-mode science-quality data product providing the highest-resolution and highest quality data for this mission. After a glider mission is complete and the glider is recovered, the full-resolution data are downloaded and quality controlled resulting in this data product. This product is typically available three to six months after a glider mission is complete.
The delayed-mode science quality full-resolution data product should be used in place of near-real-time data once this higher-quality data product is available. This is a rigorously quality controlled dataset, the results of quality control tests are included as flags. Where appropriate, in addition to the original data with quality flags, corrected variables are also provided. These are noted in the variable metadata.Users of the data must apply the quality control flag variables referenced as ancillary variables on the data variables, these flags provide necessary information for using the data.
About these measurements: A Spray glider moves slowly through the water and collects information about the water it is traveling through. It collects a series of vertical profiles from the ocean seafloor (up to 1000m deep) to the ocean surface. In typical operations to 1000 m depth, a Spray glider travels 15 miles and makes 4 profiles per day. When on the ocean surface, about every three to six hours, it sends the information it collected underwater back via satellite, and then dives back down to continue collecting data.
The Spray ocean glider carries a pumped Sea-Bird CTD to measure pressure, temperature, and salinity, a Seapoint fluorometer, and a Sea-Bird dissolved oxygen sensor. Additionally, a Nortek acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measures depth dependent water velocity. The ocean glider position is measured at the surface at the beginning and end of each dive by GPS, allowing for a dead reckoning estimation of depth averaged water velocity.
An underwater glider runs on batteries and can stay out to sea for months at a time. Spray gliders collect observations on the ascent of a dive. Sensor observations are not collected on the descent and one vertical profile of observations is collected on the ascent of each dive.
Contributors
Uwe Send (principalInvestigator), Mattias Lankhorst (contributor), Jeff Sevadjian (contributor), Instrument Development Group (processor), Jennifer Sevadjian (resourceProvider)
References
Rudnick, D. L. (2016). Ocean research enabled by underwater gliders. Annual review of marine science, 8, 519-541, doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-033913
Rudnick, D. L., Davis, R. E., & Sherman, J. T. (2016). Spray Underwater Glider Operations. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 33(6), 1113-1122, doi:10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0252.1
Rudnick, D. L., Davis, R. E., Eriksen, C. C., Fratantoni, D. M., & Perry, M. J. (2004). Underwater gliders for ocean research. Marine Technology Society Journal, 38(2), 73-84, doi:10.4031/002533204787522703
Sherman, J., Davis, R. E., Owens, W. B., & Valdes, J. (2001). The autonomous underwater glider 'Spray'. IEEE Journal of oceanic Engineering, 26(4), 437-446, doi:10.1109/48.972076
Acknowledgement
CORC has been funded by the Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (grant NA15OAR4320071). Collaboration with and services by the Instrument Development Group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are greatly appreciated.