Halocline Exploration
Your Objective
Use salinity data across a summer in the North Atlantic Ocean to look if there are patterns in the depth and shape of the halocline over time.
- Make a prediction about how the location of the halocline may change over a summer in one location.
- Explore the data below to see what you can observe.
Data Tips
When the site loads, you are able to a salinity profile from June 1, 2015 from the Coastal Pioneer Array. You can interact with the data by:
- Selecting a different date to explore the data in ways that interest you by using the left/right arrows or moving the time slider box to the left or right.
- Seeing how the date your are looking at compares with all of the other data from the summer by selecting the "Show Context" button.
As a note, each day graphs as a different color.
Questions for Thought
- How can you know what date the data are from that you are looking at in the graph?
- Across what time periods in summer 2015 are you able to observe salinity with depth data in this interactive?
- What is the first day and month there are data?
- What is the last day and month there are data?
- What changes or patterns did you observe in the location of the halocline over this time period in the Northern Atlantic Ocean?
- When did you see these changes or patterns?
- What questions do you still have about changes in the depth of the halocline over time?
Background Information
Click on the images below to learn more about where and how the dataset above was collected.
Dataset Information
The data for this activity was obtained from the following profiling CTD instrument:
- Coastal Pioneer, Central Offshore Profiler Mooring (CP02PMCO-WFP01-03-CTDPFK000)
The above datasets were downloaded from the OOI data portal. Complete profiles of the instrument were identified and the profile closest to midnight (GMT) each day was saved. This reduced the overall temporal resolution (and size) of the final dataset but it preserved the raw variability exhibited in individual profiles and measurements.