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Global ocean synoptic thermocline gradient, isothermal-layer depth, and other upper ocean parameters.
1Naval Ocean Analysis and Prediction Laboratory, Department of Oceanography, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, 93943, USA. pcchu@nps.edu.
Scientific Data
|July 12, 2019
Summary
A new global ocean dataset provides synoptic isothermal layer (ITL) depth and related parameters. This dataset, derived from NCEI temperature profiles, offers valuable insights into ocean dynamics for researchers.
Area of Science:
- Oceanography
- Climate Science
- Data Science
Background:
- Existing global ocean datasets primarily focus on climatological isothermal layer (ITL) depth.
- There is a need for synoptic datasets that capture temporal and horizontal variations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish a global ocean synoptic dataset of ITL depth (h) and associated parameters.
- To provide a comprehensive resource for studying ocean thermal structure and variability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized temperature profiles from the NCEI World Ocean Database (1961-2017).
- Applied the exponential leap-forward gradient method to identify ITL depth (h) and thermocline gradient (G).
- Derived additional parameters including ITL heat content (HITL), sea surface temperature (SST), and temperature below ITL (Tm).
Main Results:
- Generated a dataset of 1,201,897 temporally and horizontally varying sets of (G, h, HITL, SST, Tm, Q-index, I-index).
- Successfully processed data from a significant number of CTD and XBT profiles.
- The dataset includes quality measures (Q, I) indices for data reliability.
Conclusions:
- The newly established synoptic dataset offers a valuable resource for oceanographic research.
- This dataset enables more detailed analysis of ocean thermal properties and their changes.
- The data is publicly available on the NCEI website for broad scientific use.
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