Ocean cross-validated observations from R/Vs L'Atalante, Maria S. Merian, and Meteor and related platforms as part of the EUREC4A-OA/ATOMIC campaign

Type Article
Date 2023-04
Language English
Author(s) L'Hégaret PierreORCID1, Schütte Florian2, Speich Sabrina1, Reverdin GillesORCID3, Baranowski Dariusz B.ORCID4, Czeschel Rena5, Fischer TimORCID5, Foltz Gregory R.6, Heywood Karen J.ORCID7, Krahmann GerdORCID5, Laxenaire RémiORCID1, Le Bihan CarolineORCID8, Le Bot Philippe8, Leizour Stephane8, Rollo CallumORCID9, Schlundt Michael5, Siddle ElizabethORCID7, Subirade Corentin1, Zhang DongxiaoORCID10, 11, Karstensen JohannesORCID5
Affiliation(s) 1 : LMD/IPSL, CNRS, ENS, École Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PSL, Research University, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
2 : KlimaCampus, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
3 : CNRS, IRD, MNHN, UMR7159 L’OCÉAN/IPSL, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
4 : Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
5 : GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
6 : NOAA, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL, USA
7 : Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
8 : UBO, CNRS, IRD, Laboratoire d’Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), IUEM, French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (IFREMER), Plouzané, France
9 : Voice of the Ocean Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden
10 : Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
11 : NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Seattle, WA, USA
Source Earth System Science Data (1866-3508) (Copernicus GmbH), 2023-04 , Vol. 15 , N. 4 , P. 1801-1830
DOI 10.5194/essd-15-1801-2023
WOS© Times Cited 1
Abstract

The northwestern Tropical Atlantic Ocean is a turbulent region, filled with mesoscale eddies and regional currents. In this intense dynamical context, several water masses with thermohaline characteristics of different origins are advected, mixed, and stirred at the surface and at depth. The EUREC4A-OA/ATOMIC experiment that took place in January and February 2020 was dedicated to assessing the processes at play in this region, especially the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere. For that reason, four oceanographic vessels and different autonomous platforms measured properties near the air–sea interface and acquired thousands of upper-ocean (up to 400–2000 m depth) profiles. However, each device had its own observing capability, varying from deep measurements acquired during vessel stations to shipboard underway near-surface observations and measurements from autonomous and uncrewed systems (such as Saildrones). These observations were undertaken with a specific sampling strategy guided by near-real-time satellite maps and adapted every half day, based on the process that was investigated. These processes were characterized by different spatiotemporal scales, from mesoscale eddies, with diameters exceeding 100 km, to submesoscale filaments of 1 km width. This article describes the datasets gathered from the different devices and how the data were calibrated and validated. In order to ensure an overall consistency, the platforms' datasets are cross-validated using a hierarchy of instruments defined by their own specificity and calibration procedures. This has enabled the quantification of the uncertainty in the measured parameters when different datasets are used together, e.g., https://doi.org/10.17882/92071 (L'Hégaret et al., 2020a).

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 30 24 MB Open access
Preprint 39 64 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

L'Hégaret Pierre, Schütte Florian, Speich Sabrina, Reverdin Gilles, Baranowski Dariusz B., Czeschel Rena, Fischer Tim, Foltz Gregory R., Heywood Karen J., Krahmann Gerd, Laxenaire Rémi, Le Bihan Caroline, Le Bot Philippe, Leizour Stephane, Rollo Callum, Schlundt Michael, Siddle Elizabeth, Subirade Corentin, Zhang Dongxiao, Karstensen Johannes (2023). Ocean cross-validated observations from R/Vs L'Atalante, Maria S. Merian, and Meteor and related platforms as part of the EUREC4A-OA/ATOMIC campaign. Earth System Science Data, 15(4), 1801-1830. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1801-2023 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00835/94694/