N: 35 S: 23 E: -36 W: -58
Description
The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves 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 and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. An Underway-CTD (UCTD) was deployed on 2 of the SPURS-1 cruises. An UCTD is a towed CTD instrument providing conductivity, salinity and temperature depth profile observations while underway at up to 20kts. 771 UCTD casts occurred during the Knorr and Endeavor-I cruises (6 Sept-9 Oct 2012 and 15 Mar-15 Apr 2013 respectively) utilizing an Oceanscience instrument. UCTD data files (1 per cruise) each contain the observational data for multiple deployments, binned in 1m depth intervals.
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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 Sort descending | Description | Units | Data Type | Fill Value | Valid Range | Scale Factor | Offset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| conductivity | Conductivity of UCTD measurement | S/m | float | 1.0E+30 | 0 to 6 | 1 | N/A |
| lat | latitude as estimated by comparing time to Endeavor EN522 TSG data | degrees_north | float | N/A | 23 to 33 | 1 | N/A |
| lon | longitude as estimated by comparing time to Endeavor EN522 TSG data | degrees_east | float | N/A | -58 to -37 | 1 | N/A |
| pressure | Pressure of UCTD measurement | decibars | float | N/A | -1 to 407 | 1 | N/A |
| profile | Unique identifier for each feature instance | N/A | float | N/A | N/A | 1 | N/A |
| salinity | Salinity of UCTD measurement | psu | float | 1.0E+30 | 30 to 40 | 1 | N/A |
| temperature | Temperature of UCTD measurement | degrees_C | float | 1.0E+30 | 14 to 26 | 1 | N/A |
| time | scanning occurs at 16Hz | seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 0:00 | double | N/A | N/A | 1 | N/A |
| z | Depth of UCTD measurement | m | float | N/A | -1 to 404 | 1 | N/A |