ATLAS/TOPEX POSEIDON MOORINGS - INVERTED ECHO SOUNDER DATA (2S, 156E)

M. Bushnell (NOAA/AOML, USA)

Announced availability: 1 May 1994

Data Access

The NOAA/AOML Inverted Echo Sounder (IES) data are available from the COARE Moored Data Archive at NOAA/PMEL's Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean Array (TAO) Project Office, (http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/coare/coare-data.html), along with other COARE mooring data.

The original data have also been archived at NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) in Silver Spring, Maryland (http://www.nodc.noaa.gov), the repository for COARE oceanographic data, and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado (http://dss.ucar.edu/pub/toga_coare/), the site of the TOGA COARE deep archive.

Background

During the verification phase of the TOPEX/POSEIDON radar altimeter mission a rigorous open-ocean validation experiment was conducted in the western equatorial Pacific ocean. From August/September 1992 to February/March 1993, two TOGA-TAO moorings at 2S 156E (1739m depth) and 2S, 164.4E (4400 m depth) were enhanced with additional temperature, conductivity and pressure sensors to measure precisely the dynamic height from the surface to the bottom at 5 min intervals directly beneath two TOPEX/POSEIDON crossovers.

Enhanced instrumentation on the Atlas mooring at 2S 156E included 16 Seacats (SB-16, two with pressure sensors), 5 MTRs, and 1 Aanderaa recorder (pressure and temperature). At 2S 164.4E, 11 Seacats (two with pressure sensors), 12 MTRs, and 2 Aanderaa recorders were added.

Enhanced bottom measurements were made within one mile of each Atlas. O ne Bottom Pressure Recorder (BPR) and two IES were located near 2S 156E and one BPR and one IES near 2S 164.4E.

The data contained in this file are from one IES located near the ATLAS mooring at TOPEX-POSEIDON orbit cross-over point 2S, 156E.

Data File Information

Number of data files: 1 (ies.dat)
Dataset format: ASCII
Dataset volume: 60 KB

File Header

The file IES.DAT contains two columns:

  • time - elapsed hours since 0000Z JD 251 1993
  • TT - round-trip travel time (TT) in seconds. The listed TT is the third shortest TT in the 32 ping burst. A clock drift has been applied and the series is interpolated at 2-hour intervals.

    Data Example 

       132.0000       2.366055
   134.0000       2.367368
   136.0000       2.368442
   138.0000       2.368610
   140.0000       2.368038
   142.0000       2.366984
    For more information, please contact:

    Mark Bushnell
    NOAA/AOML 4301
    Rickenbacker Causeway
    Miami, FL 33149
    USA

    email: bushnell@aoml.noaa.gov
    Phone: (305) 361-4353

    Reference

    Gourdeau, L., J. Picaut, M.J. Langlade, A. Busalacchi, E. Hackert, M. McPhaden, P. Freitag, F. Gonzalez, M. Eble, R. Weller, 1995: Traitements des donnees pour la validation en plein ocean du niveau de la mer de POPEX/POSEIDON dans le Pacifique equatorial ouest. Notes Techniques, Sciences de la Mer, Oceanographie Physique, No 12, ORSTOM, Centre de Noumea, 43 pp.

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