FN Archimer Export Format PT J TI Eastern Tropical Atlantic Mixed Layer Depth: Assessment of Methods from In Situ Profiles in the Gulf of Guinea from Coastal to High Sea BT AF N’Guessan, Benjamin Kouadio Kouassi, Aka Marcel Trokourey, Albert Toualy, Elisée Kanga, Desiré Kouamé Brehmer, Patrice AS 1:1,2;2:1;3:2;4:3;5:1,2;6:4; FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;6:; C1 Centre de Recherches Océanologiques (CRO), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire UFR SSMT, Université Felix Houphouët-Boigny, Laboratoire de Chimie-Physique, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire UFR SSMT, Université Felix Houphouët-Boigny, Laboratoire de Physique de l’Atmosphère et de Mécanique des Fluides (LAPA-MF), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire IRD, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, Lemar, Délégation Régionale IRD Oues, tPlouzané, France C2 CRO, COTE IVOIRE UNIV FELIX HOUPHOUET BOIGNY, COTE IVOIRE UNIV FELIX HOUPHOUET BOIGNY, COTE IVOIRE IRD, FRANCE UM LEMAR IN WOS Cotutelle UMR copubli-int-hors-europe copubli-sud IF 0.62 TC 1 UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00599/71115/75615.pdf LA English DT Article DE ;Mixed layer depth;Gulf of Guinea;Atlantic Ocean;Density;Temperature AB To assess the eastern Atlantic tropical mixed layer depth (MLD) at 4°W in the Gulf of Guinea, water temperature and density profiles from over five hundred historical observational Conductivity – Temperature - Depth (CTD) data were used. These data, obtained from key oceanographic survey databases covering 60 years (1956 to 2016) were used for a numerical and visual determination of the MLD. The numerical approach consists of the use of the algorithms of three methods; while the visual estimation of the MLD were made on both temperature and density profiles. The numerical approaches were evaluated by comparing their results on the determination of tropical MLD with those of the visual inspections by means of statistical and graphical analysis in order to determine the most suitable method for the determination of MLD in the study area. Our results show that the Boyer Montegut density threshold method (potential density) with the constant criterion Δσ = 0.03 kg.m−3 and a reference depth of ten meters is the most appropriate for determining the MLD in the Gulf of Guinea regardless the season. However, in the situation where only temperature profiles are available it is advisable to estimate MLD using the Lorbacher curvative method. PY 2020 PD APR SO Thalassas SN 0212-5919 PU Springer Science and Business Media LLC VL 36 IS 1 UT 000502584900001 BP 201 EP 212 DI 10.1007/s41208-019-00179-7 ID 71115 ER EF