The OCEAN ICE hydrography profiles compilation and climatology

Abstract. A compilation of in situ temperature and salinity profiles south of 45° S is assembled, drawing from multiple data centers and sensor sources. This database is then used to create a new Southern Ocean climatology, adopting an interpolation scheme that takes into account ocean depth and mean ocean dynamics, influenced by methods developed for the Southern Ocean Atlas. This interpolation scheme is designed to consider along flow spatial coherency and the distinct dynamic regimes between Antarctic shelf seas and the Southern Ocean. Initial exploration of the profile compilation investigates the type of variability timescales one could reasonably start to analyze in different sectors around Antarctica. A comparison between the climatology product and the World Ocean Atlas climatology, the most used product to date, indicates that the OCEAN ICE climatology provides significant improvements in Antarctic shelf seas, including a more detailed representation of the unique water masses they host. The profile compilation is available in NetCDF format with the SEANOE database at https://doi.org/10.17882/99787, and the climatology product is available at https://doi.org/10.17882/103946. Both the hydrography profiles compilation and the hydrography climatology products are generated under the endorsement of Ocean-Cryosphere Exchanges in ANtarctica: Impacts on Climate and the Earth System (OCEAN ICE) project (https://ocean-ice.eu/) funded by the European Commission and UK Research and Innovation.