Navigation, meteorological and surface seawater data from the Arctic Ocean 2016 expedition

John Prytherch, Michael Tjernström

Measurements from icebreaker Oden’s navigation, meteorological and surface seawater systems from the Arctic Ocean 2016 (AO2016) expedition to the central Arctic Ocean in August and September 2016.

The dataset provides rare meteorological and surface sea water observations from sea-ice regions of the Arctic Ocean, as well as Oden’s navigation data. The data enable analysis of meteorological conditions and provide context for other measurements and analysis associated with the expedition.

Measurements of wind, temperature, humidity and pressure were made from sensors above Oden’s bridge (25⁠ – ⁠35 m above sea level). Measurements of seawater properties (temperature, salinity, conductivity and sound velocity) were performed by sensors in the main laboratory on the pumped underway line, with an intake at 8 m depth. Water temperature was also measured with hull contact sensors located close to the underway line intake.

Citation

John Prytherch, Michael Tjernström (2019) Navigation, meteorological and surface seawater data from the Arctic Ocean 2016 expedition. Dataset version 1. Bolin Centre Database. https://doi.org/10.17043/oden-ao-2016-navigation-1

Data description

Data from icebreaker Oden’s systems averaged over either 1 or 30-minute intervals. Three data formats are available: Matlab (.mat), NetCDF (.nc) and comma separated value (.csv) text, with an accompanying readme (.rtf) file.

Comments

Sensors were operated and maintained by icebreaker Oden’s ship crew and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat staff. The following processing was carried out post-expedition: (i) True winds were re-calculated from the measured ship-relative winds using the navigation data to correct an error in the original true wind calculation; (ii) Large variations in the underway line salinity measurement (resulting from variations in line flow speed due to e.g. ice blockages) were removed and interpolated over. A flag indicates interpolation. Other underway line measurements are not adjusted.

Data from the various systems are combined into a single, cruise-length file. The file is time-averaged to either 1-minute or 30-minute, to correspond with the micrometeorological averaging periods used for the mast sensors.

More information about the Canadian-Swedish Arctic Ocean 2016 expedition is available from the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat.

Version history

Version 1