file: POIsec_readme

Files POIsec'n'.lat.asc (n=1,12) contain data from the LeNoroit SeaSoar
for 12 north/south sections along 156E during the IOP of TOGA COARE.
The SeaSoar carried a Neil Brown Mk III CTD. The data are gridded on 4m
in the vertical and 0.1 degree latitude in the horizontal.

Files can be retrieved by anonymous ftp over Internet as follows:

1. type
     ftp 152.78.112.41

2. login as anonymous

3. enter your local email address for the password

4. At the ftp prompt enter
     ftp> cd pub
     ftp> cd coare
     ftp> get POIsec'n'.lat.asc

5. This file can be retrieved by
     ftp> get sec_readme


The start/stop time and latitudes for each section are as follows:


File                          time                latitude 
                      start          stop      start    stop
                   yy:mm:dd:hh   yy:mm:dd:hh
POIsec1.lat.asc    92:12:30:20   93:01:03:05  4.949N  4.999S 
POIsec2.lat.asc    93:01:03:05   93:01:06:16  5.026S  4.500N
POIsec3.lat.asc    93:01:06:16   93:01:09:17  4.501N  5.016S 
POIsec4.lat.asc    93:01:14:06   93:01:17:07  4.906S  4.995N
POIsec5.lat.asc    93:01:17:07   93:01:20:10  5.001N  5.002S 
POIsec6.lat.asc    93:01:20:10   93:01:23:12  5.022S  5.002N
POIsec7.lat.asc    93:01:23:13   93:01:26:17  4.984N  4.497S
POIsec8.lat.asc    93:01:26:17   93:01:29:03  4.510S  2.755N
POIsec9.lat.asc    93:02:02:19   93:02:05:22  4.667N  5.012S
POIsec10.lat.asc   93:02:05:22   93:02:09:15  5.026S  4.993N 
POIsec11.lat.asc   93:02:09:16   93:02:12:22  4.986N  4.859S
POIsec12.lat.asc   93:02:12:22   93:02:16:02  4.859S  4.983N

Each file contains a header of 44 lines which contains information
about the limits of each variable. Each record, labelled with a cycle
number, contains the following variables:

latitude (degree), pressure (dbar), temperature (degree C), potential
temperature (degree C), salinity (psu), julian day, longitude (degree),
distance run (km) and sigma0 (potential density referenced to the
surface - kg/m**3)

jday is referenced to the first day of the current year. Thus
jday=366.0 is 31 December 1992 00h00 gmt and jday=1.0 is 1 January 1993
00h00 gmt.

The data are grouped in blocks of 95 with constant latitude and with
pressure running from 4 dbar to 381 dbar in increments of 4 dbar. Odd
numbered sections run north to south. Even numbered sections run south
to north.

Calibration: Temperature was calibrated pre and post cruise. The sensor
was found to have drifted by 0.007C over 12 months. Supposing a linear
drift the temperatures during the IOP should be good to within 0.003C.
Salinity was calibrated with a SeaBird thermosalinograph which itself
was calibrated with surface samples analysed with a Guildline
salinometer. The salinity is thought to be good to within 0.005 psu.

If a finer resolution is required 1 second averaged data are available
uopn request.

A technical report on the data processing procedure is available from
the email address below. A full cruise report of the Le Noroit campaign
is available by contacting eldin@noumea.orstom.fr

We are happy to answer any queries regarding the dataset.

Kelvin Richards
Department of Oceanography
University of Southampton
Southampton SO9 5NH
UK

email: kjr@ub.nso.ac.uk