Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-677-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-677-2018
29 Mar 2018
 | 29 Mar 2018

An inventory of Arctic Ocean data in the World Ocean Database

Melissa M. Zweng, Tim P. Boyer, Olga K. Baranova, James R. Reagan, Dan Seidov, and Igor V. Smolyar

Abstract. The World Ocean Database (WOD) contains over 1.3 million oceanographic casts (where cast refers to an oceanographic profile or set of profiles collected concurrently at more than one depth between the ocean surface and ocean bottom) collected in the Arctic Ocean basin and its surrounding marginal seas. The data, collected from 1849 to the present, come from many submitters and countries, and were collected using a variety of instruments and platforms. These data, along with the derived products World Ocean Atlas (WOA) and the Arctic Regional Climatologies, are exceptionally useful – the data are presented in a standardized, easy to use format and include metadata and quality control information. Collecting data in the Arctic Ocean is challenging, and coverage in space and time ranges from excellent to nearly non-existent. WOD continues to compile a comprehensive collection of Arctic Ocean profile data, ideal for oceanographic, environmental and climatic analyses (https://doi.org/10.7289/V54Q7S16).

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Short summary
The World Ocean Database (WOD) contains over 1.3 million oceanographic casts collected in the Arctic Ocean basin and its surrounding marginal seas. WOD provides a one-stop source of Arctic Ocean profile data in a uniform data and metadata format, with quality control applied, which makes it simple for scientists to apply the information to their research.