The Evaluation of Salinity Measurements from PALACE Floats
Open Access
- 1 July 2001
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
- Vol. 18 (7) , 1258-1266
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2001)018<1258:teosmf>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Seven PALACE (Profiling Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer) floats were deployed in October 1996 in the Irminger Basin of the Atlantic Ocean as a U.K. contribution to the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. Of these floats, four were fitted with a conductivity–temperature–depth package. The floats were ballasted to drift at a depth of about 1500 m, above the Labrador Sea Water (LSW) cold and fresh extreme, and programmed to surface every 14 days. The floats made a profile during each ascent to the surface. The authors present a method to evaluate the performance of the conductivity sensors and to calibrate the float salinity data. Since the LSW appears to be relatively stable over a timescale of ∼1–2 months and a length scale of ∼50–100 km, the authors were able to make direct comparisons between the first year of float data and accurate ship-based measurements and, therefore, were able to correct for errors of the conductivity sensors. A correction was applied in all cases. The conductivity sensors were all stable within, or very close to, the manufacturer's specification, with a maximum drift for salinity of (0.0009 ± 0.0004) month−1.Keywords
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