S-MODE Saildrone Level 1 Observations

This dataset contains a suite of Saildrone in-situ measurements (including but not limited to temperature, salinity, currents, biochemistry, and meteorology) taken during the Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) conducted approximately 300 km offshore of San Francisco during a pilot campaign spanning two weeks in October 2021, and two intensive operating periods (IOPs) in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. S-MODE aims to understand how ocean dynamics acting on short spatial scales influence the vertical exchange of physical and biological variables in the ocean.

Saildrones are wind-and-solar-powered unmanned surface vehicles rigged with atmospheric and oceanic sensors that measure upper ocean horizontal velocities, near-surface temperature and salinity, Chlorophyll-a fluorescence, dissolved oxygen concentration, 5-m winds, air temperature, and surface radiation. Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data samples are available in their raw 1 Hz sampling frequency as well as 5 minute averages, the latter available with navigation data.