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Description

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is a NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project is comprised of two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. The towed Surface Salinity Profiler (SSP) platform is a converted paddleboard with a keel and surfboard outrigger that is tethered to the ship and skims the sea surface beyond the ships wake. Below the paddleboard are salinity and temperature sensors at depths of 10, 30, 50 and 100cm, and microstructure sensors that measure turbulence. The SSP was deployed 19 times throughout the first SPURS-2 cruise, totaling over 200 hours of measurements, and a further 15 times during the 2017 cruise. SSP deployment is most informative when there is a rain event leading to near-surface ocean stratification. The SSP then measures how the ocean changes over the periods before, during, and after rain, and how rainwater mixes into the ocean during recovery. All SSP data files are in netCDF format with standards compliant metadata.

Product Summary

Platforms
SEAGLIDER
Instruments
CTD
Spatial Extent

N: 16.502 S: 6.546 E: -123.203 W: -140.969

Spatial Resolution
1 Meters x 1 Meters
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
CARTESIAN
Temporal Extent
2016-08-27 to 2017-11-11
Data Partner
Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA (NASA/JPL/PODAAC)
Concept ID
C2491772351-POCLOUD
Data State
COMPLETE
Number of Files/Granules
2
Processing Level
2
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
Water Temperature ,
Turbulence ,
Conductivity ,
Salinity

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA/SPURS Project. (2019). Towed surface salinity profile (SSP) data for the SPURS-2 E. Tropical Pacific R/V Revelle cruises [Data set]. NASA Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/SPUR2-SSP00 Date Accessed: 2026-02-15

Documents

Variables

The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR). Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables. Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data, user guide, and/or other product documentation.

For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.

Name Description Units Data Type Fill Value Valid Range Scale Factor
deployment_number Deployment Number N/A double N/A N/A 1
latitude Latitude of Surface Salinity Profiler measurement degrees_north double N/A 6.6860064000059 to 11.548307983544 1
longitude Longitude of Surface Salinity Profiler measurement degrees_east double N/A -140.96998640001 to -123.38660059993 1
lower_error_bound_tke_dissipation_rate_at_0p37m Lower uncertainty limit of Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate at 0.37m depth, as specified in Iyer et al. (2021), JTech and Iyer and Drushka, JPO W/kg double N/A 1.0E-10 to 0.1 1
sea_water_pressure_at_0p12m Seawater Pressure at 0.12m depth dbar double N/A 0.01 to 0.25906057737814 1
sea_water_pressure_at_0p23m Seawater Pressure at 0.23m depth dbar double N/A 0.014825564888205 to 0.37064462321069 1
sea_water_pressure_at_0p54m Seawater Pressure at 0.54m depth dbar double N/A 0.11400070980717 to 0.78776291038154 1
sea_water_pressure_at_1p10m Seawater Pressure at 1.10m depth dbar double N/A 0.51541176470588 to 1.50176534958 1
sea_water_salinity_at_0p05m Seawater Salinity at 0.05m depth 1 double N/A 20.9124 to 33.721568681263 1
sea_water_salinity_at_0p12m Seawater Salinity at 0.12m depth 1 double N/A 24.4245 to 33.733675357861 1
sea_water_salinity_at_0p23m Seawater Salinity at 0.23m depth 1 double N/A 29.334 to 33.7721 1
sea_water_salinity_at_0p54m Seawater Salinity at 0.54m depth 1 double N/A 31.5342 to 33.7847 1
sea_water_salinity_at_1p10m Seawater Salinity at 1.10m depth 1 double N/A 31.738698958888 to 33.7943 1
sea_water_temperature_at_0p05m Seawater Temperature at 0.05m depth degrees_C double N/A 24.378924995562 to 31.640274176742 1
sea_water_temperature_at_0p05m_tsg Biased warm, use sea_water_temperature_at_0p05m instead degrees_C double N/A 24.376188232277 to 31.73642351201 1
sea_water_temperature_at_0p12m Seawater Temperature at 0.12m depth degrees_C double N/A 27.1295 to 31.6076 1
sea_water_temperature_at_0p23m Seawater Temperature at 0.23m depth degrees_C double N/A 27.6998 to 31.41255960387 1
sea_water_temperature_at_0p54m Seawater Temperature at 0.54m depth degrees_C double N/A 27.7154 to 29.99270498476 1
sea_water_temperature_at_1p10m Seawater Temperature at 1.10m depth degrees_C double N/A 27.717000331361 to 29.7407 1
time Time of Surface Salinity Profiler measurement days since 1950-01-01T00:00:00 double N/A N/A 1
tke_dissipation_rate_at_0p37m Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate at 0.37m depth W/kg double N/A 1.0E-10 to 0.1 1
upper_error_bound_tke_dissipation_rate_at_0p37m Upper uncertainty limit of Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate at 0.37m depth, as specified in Iyer et al. (2021), JTech and Iyer and Drushka, JPO W/kg double N/A 1.0E-10 to 0.1 1
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