The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. An Underway-CTD (UCTD) was deployed on 2 of the SPURS-1 cruises. An UCTD is a towed CTD instrument providing conductivity, salinity and temperature depth profile observations while underway at up to 20kts. 771 UCTD casts occurred during the Knorr and Endeavor-I cruises (6 Sept-9 Oct 2012 and 15 Mar-15 Apr 2013 respectively) utilizing an Oceanscience instrument. UCTD data files (1 per cruise) each contain the observational data for multiple deployments, binned in 1m depth intervals.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) profilers were deployed at stations on each of the 5 SPURS-1 cruises. These shipboard lowered CTD probes provide continuous conductivity, salinity, and temperature vertical profile observations at fixed sampling locations. There were 100, 52, 17, 22 and 94 CTD casts made during the Knorr, Endeavor-1, Endeavor-2, Sarmiento, and Thalassa cruises respectively. All CTD data were calibrated using shipboard salinometers using IAPSO standard seawater. SPURS-1 shipboard CTD data files (one per cruise) contain the observational data processed to 1 meter bin depth intervals.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) provide water column current velocity profile observations. Shipborne ADCP data were collected during the 3 US cruises, using the Knorr and Endeavor 300 kHz Workhorse, 75 khz broadband and 75 khz narrowband instruments, and during the Sarmiento cruise using a 76.8 khz broadband ADCP. Corresponding ruise dates were as follows: Knorr: 6 Sept-9 Oct 2012; Sarmiento: 14 Mar-10 Apr 2013, Endeavor: 15 Mar-15 Apr 2013 and 19 Sep-13 Oct 2013. Additionally, lowered ADCP (L-ADCP) measurements were made during the Knorr cruise on every CTD cast and during the Sarmiento cruise. The ADCP data files here (1 per cruise) are for the shipborne ADCP measurements only.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) profilers were deployed at stations on each of the 5 SPURS-1 cruises. These shipboard lowered CTD probes provide continuous conductivity, salinity, and temperature vertical profile observations at fixed sampling locations. There were 100, 52, 17, 22 and 94 CTD casts made during the Knorr, Endeavor-1, Endeavor-2, Sarmiento, and Thalassa cruises respectively. All CTD data were calibrated using shipboard salinometers using IAPSO standard seawater. SPURS-1 shipboard CTD data files (one per cruise) contain the observational data processed to 1 meter bin depth intervals.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is a NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project is comprised of two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. An underway-CTD (uCTD) is a towed profiling CTD instrument providing salinity and temperature observations from the surface to 500m while underway at up to 12 kts. A total of 262 and 501 uCTD casts were performed during the first and second Revelle cruises respectively. uCTD data files (1 per cruise) are in netCDF format and each contain the observational data for multiple deployments, binned in 6 or 8m depth intervals.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is a NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project is comprised of two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. The towed Surface Salinity Profiler (SSP) platform is a converted paddleboard with a keel and surfboard outrigger that is tethered to the ship and skims the sea surface beyond the ships wake. Below the paddleboard are salinity and temperature sensors at depths of 10, 30, 50 and 100cm, and microstructure sensors that measure turbulence. The SSP was deployed 19 times throughout the first SPURS-2 cruise, totaling over 200 hours of measurements, and a further 15 times during the 2017 cruise. SSP deployment is most informative when there is a rain event leading to near-surface ocean stratification. The SSP then measures how the ocean changes over the periods before, during, and after rain, and how rainwater mixes into the ocean during recovery. All SSP data files are in netCDF format with standards compliant metadata.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is an oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-1 campaign involved a series of 5 cruises during 2012 - 2013 seeking to characterize the salinity structure and balance in a high salinity, high evaporation, and low rainfall region of the subtropical North Atlantic. It aims to resolve processes responsible for maintaining the subtropical surface salinity maximum in this region and within a 900 x 800-mile square study area centered at 25N, 38W. Approximately 83 drifters were deployed during the SPURS-1 campaign. A drifter is a passive Lagrangian sensor platform consisting of a surface buoy and tethered subsurface drogue. Drifter buoys contain GPS/ARGOS and satellite data transmitters, with sensors measuring temperature and other properties. For SPURS-1, these were standard Surface Velocity Program (SVP) drifters with salinity sensors added (SVP/S). Data for both US and European drifter deployments during SPURS-1 are available here. For each series, drifter data have been aggregrated within single netCDF data filea with their corresponding drifter-IDs and associaciated near-surface salinity, temperaure georeferenced (GPS and ARGOS) trajectory series data.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is a NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project is comprised of two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. The Seaglider is an autonomous profiler measuring salinity and temperature. A total of five Seagliders were deployed over the two SPURS2 cruises. Three Seagliders were deployed on the first Revelle cruise in August 2016, recovered by the Lady Amber after 7 months and redeployed, to be retrieved finally during the second cruise in November 2017. One of the Seagliders was deployed alongside and tracked the Lagrangian array across the study region, diving to depths of 1000m. All Seaglider data files are in netCDF format with standards compliant metadata.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is a NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project is comprised of two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D,SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. Shipborne ADCP observations were made during both SPURS-2 R/V Revelle cruises. Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) provide water column current velocity profile observations. The resulting data files available here are for narrowband 75 and 150khz ADCP measurements made during the first cruise, plus narrowband (NB) 75khz and both 75khz and 150khz broadband (BB) ADCP measurements obtained during the second R/V Revelle cruise.

The SPURS (Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study) project is NASA-funded oceanographic process study and associated field program that aim to elucidate key mechanisms responsible for near-surface salinity variations in the oceans. The project involves two field campaigns and a series of cruises in regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans exhibiting salinity extremes. SPURS employs a suite of state-of-the-art in-situ sampling technologies that, combined with remotely sensed salinity fields from the Aquarius/SAC-D, SMAP and SMOS satellites, provide a detailed characterization of salinity structure over a continuum of spatio-temporal scales. The SPURS-2 campaign involved two month-long cruises by the R/V Revelle in August 2016 and October 2017 combined with complementary sampling on a more continuous basis over this period by the schooner Lady Amber. Focused around a central mooring located near 10N,125W, the objective of SPURS-2 was to study the dynamics of the rainfall-dominated surface ocean at the western edge of the eastern Pacific fresh pool subject to high seasonal variability and strong zonal flows associated with the North Equatorial Current and Countercurrent. Expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts were undertaken at stations during both of the SPURS-2 R/V Revelle cruises. Launched off the side of the ship, XBT probes provide vertical profile measurements of the water column at fixed locations. There were a total of 25 and 11 XBT deployments made during the first and second R/V Revelle cruises respectively. There is one XBT data file per cruise, each containing the temperature profile data from all instrument deployments undertaken during that cruise.