Data coverage
This dataset includes hourly sea surface temperature and current data collected by satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys ("drifters") of the NOAA Global Drifter Program. The Drifter Data Assembly Center (DAC) at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) has applied quality control procedures and processing to edit these observational data and obtain estimates at regular hourly intervals. The data include positions (latitude and longitude), sea surface temperatures (total, diurnal, and non-diurnal components) and velocities (eastward, northward) with accompanying uncertainty estimates. Metadata include identification numbers, experiment number, start location and time, end location and time, drogue loss date, death code, manufacturer, and drifter type. Please note that data from the Global Drifter Program are also available at 6-hourly intervals but derived via alternative methods. The 6-hourly dataset goes back further in time (1979) and may be more appropriate for studies of long-term, low frequency patterns of the oceanic circulation. Yet, the 6-hourly dataset does not resolve fully high-frequency processes such as tides and inertial oscillations as well as sea surface temperature diurnal variability. [CITING NOAA - hourly position, current, and sea surface temperature from drifters data. Citation for this dataset should include the following information below.] Elipot, Shane; Sykulski, Adam; Lumpkin, Rick; Centurioni, Luca; Pazos, Mayra (2022). Hourly location, current velocity, and temperature collected from Global Drifter Program drifters world-wide. [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/x46c-3620.
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