Abstract:

A set of fifty-two S2A (Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangian Observer, SOLO) profiling floats have been deployed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico in sets of four to sixteen floats, over a series of eight cruises from 2019-06-17 to 2023-06-03. The floats are Argo-equivalent, collecting position, pressure, temperature, and practical salinity profile data from 0-2000 m depth, profiling nominally every five days, and drifting at 1500 m depth between profiles. These floats were deployed to provide an automated observing system to collect hydrographic data in the Loop Current Active Area, nominally east of 90°W, as part of both the Understanding Gulf Ocean Systems (UGOS) 1 and 3 programs, funded by National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Program. Data are stored in both near-real-time format directly after collection and transmission, and in delayed-mode format, which has been quality controlled and calibrated. Collected by Argo-equivalent floats, the platform data are processed using methods developed by the global Argo program and are stored at the Global Data Assembly Centers (GDAC) with all Argo float data. This dataset contains a listing of all fifty-two floats, links to the data download sites at AOML and IFREMER, and links to each float's Operational and Engineering Data overview page at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Suggested Citation:

Bower, Amy S., Heather H. Furey, and Steven R. Jayne. 2024. UGOS S2A (SOLO) profiling float data in the Gulf of Mexico, deployed from 2019-06-17 to 2023-06-03. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/d4ehecfz

Purpose:

These floats were deployed to provide an automated observing system to collect hydrographic data in the Loop Current Active Area, nominally east of 90°W, as part of both the UGOS1 and UGOS3 programs, funded by National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Program. The floats were deployed to collect position, pressure, temperature, and practical salinity profile data from 0-2000 m depth, profile nominally every five days, and drift at 1500 m depth between profiles.

Data Parameters and Units:

Julian day of the station (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS UTC), LATITUDE (degrees north), LONGITUDE (degrees east), Pressure (decibars), Temperature (degrees Celsius), Practical Salinity (psu)

Methods:

The float data were quality controlled and calibrated according to methods developed by the Argo Program (https://argo.ucsd.edu/). A detailed description of methods used may be found in the Argo Data Management Team documentation: http://www.argodatamgt.org/.

Individual Files: