Upper Ocean Temperatures:

Upper ocean temperatures between the sea surface (1 m) and
500 m depth begin in 1977 and continue to the present
at sites  located across the Tropical Pacific and Atlantic. TRITON
buoys replaced ATLAS buoys in the Pacific west of 160E beginning
in 1999. For sites recently occupied by TRITON buoys, SST is
measured at 1.5 m depth, and the deepest temperature is measured
at 750 meters. Temperatures are in units of degrees centigrade.

For standard depths of ATLAS temperature measurements, see
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/proj_over/mooring.shtml#depths

In certain instances, additional temperature sensors may
have been added to ATLAS moorings for special purposes.

At TAO mooring sites which measured subsurface currents in
addition to temperatures, i.e. on the equator at 156E, 165E,
140W, 125W, 110W, and 95W, and at 7N, 140W, there have been
a wide variety of depths for temperature sensors over time 
in response to changing scientific priorities.

For a qualitative picture of the distribution of depths 
with time, you can view data availability plots at

   http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/proj_over/temp.html

and on the TAO/TRITON delivery page

     http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/data_deliv

In addition, all depths are clearly indicated in the 
data files themselves, except that in files containing 
multiple sites, and in netcdf files containing both 
ATLAS and TRITON data, all SST's are given the ATLAS 
depth of 1 meter.

For detailed information about TAO and PIRATA sampling and 
sensors, see these two web pages:

   http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/proj_over/sensors.shtml

   http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/proj_over/sampling.html

For general information about the TAO Array, see

McPhaden, M.J., A.J. Busalacchi, R. Cheney, J.R. Donguy,
K.S. Gage, D. Halpern, M. Ji, P. Julian, G. Meyers,
G.T. Mitchum, P.P. Niiler, J. Picaut, R.W. Reynolds,
N. Smith, K. Takeuchi, 1998: The Tropical Ocean-Global
Atmosphere (TOGA) observing system: A decade of
progress. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 14,169-14,240.
   http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/outstand/mcph1720/abstract.shtml

For general information about PIRATA, see

Servain, J., A.J. Busalacchi, M.J. McPhaden, A.D. Moura,
G. Reverdin, M. Vianna, and S.E. Zebiak, 1998: A Pilot
Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA).
Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 79, 2019-2031.

For information about the TAO/TRITON collaboration, see
   http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/proj_over/triton.html

If you selected daily data at 8n137e or 6s10w, you may
get more than one file per site. This is because the 
original deployments for these sites were at 7n137e and
5s10w, respectively, while present deployments are at 
8n136e and 6s10w. The file names will clearly indicate
which site the data come from. For more details about 
the mooring locations, you can deliver daily average
position data for most deployments under the data category
of "Buoy Positions" on the delivery page. 

If you selected the site at 0n110w, you may get data in 
separate files from several groups of deployments clustered 
around 0n110w since mooring locations have been in significantly 
different locations at different times. The file names will 
clearly indicate the site locations. See this page for more
information

  http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/data_deliv/110w.html

If you selected high resolution data, you may find that 
you have several files, each with a different averaging
interval, for example, hourly, 15 minute, and 10 minute.
Also, some files may have a _tr_ string the name, which 
indicates spot samples rather than averages.

In ascii format files, you will find data quality codes
to the right of the data. In 10-minute ascii files you 
will also find source codes. Quality and source codes are 
defined below.

Similarly, in netcdf files you will find variables of
quality and source codes, with the same shape as the data.

Using these codes you can tune your analysis to trade-off 
between quality and temporal/spatial coverage. 


Quality Code Definitions:

0 = datum missing

1 = highest quality; Pre/post-deployment calibrations agree to within
sensor specifications.  In most cases only pre-deployment calibrations have
been applied

2 = default quality; Pre-deployment calibrations applied.  Default
value for sensors presently deployed and for sensors which were either not
recovered or not calibratable when recovered.

3 = adjusted data; Pre/post calibrations differ, or original data do
not agree with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology),
or original data are noisy.  Data have been adjusted in an attempt to
reduce the error.

4 = lower quality; Pre/post calibrations differ, or data do not agree
with other data sources (e.g., other in situ data or climatology), or data
are noisy.  Data could not be confidently adjusted to correct for error.

5 = sensor or tube failed

C (ascii) or -9 (netcdf) = Indicates special adjustments were 
made to the data. For further information, see the following:

 	Freitag, H.P., M.E. McCarty, C. Nosse, R. Lukas, M.J. McPhaden,
 	and M.F. Cronin, 1999: COARE Seacat data: Calibrations and
 	quality control procedures. NOAA Tech. Memo. ERL PMEL-115,
 	89 pp.

PDF versions of this and other PMEL Technical Memoranda and Reports 
are available on line at

	http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/PDF/pmel-pdf.html

Source code definitions:

    0 - No Sensor, No Data 
    1 - Real Time (Telemetered Mode)
    2 - Derived from Real Time
    3 - Temporally Interpolated from Real Time
    4 - Source Code Inactive at Present
    5 - Recovered from Instrument RAM (Delayed Mode)
    6 - Derived from RAM
    7 - Temporally Interpolated from RAM

Dates and times are specified in ascii files as
two integers such as

   19920131 2350

which means 1992 January 31 at 11:50 pm GMT. High resolution
files may also specify seconds with two additional digits
on the 2nd integer, such as 235000.

Your data files will be deleted from our server at 
midnight Pacific time.

You can access your files using this web address:

http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/ftp/OCRD/tao/taoweb/deliv/cache/data14217

You can also access your files by anonymous FTP using
the following commands:

	ftp ftp.pmel.noaa.gov

login as "anonymous" using your email address as password, then
change to the following directory:

OCRD/tao/taoweb/deliv/cache/data14217

Enter the following commands to get your files. If you're
using an FTP tool like Fetch, you'll need to mimic these
commands with button clicks.

If all of your files are ascii and uncompressed enter

	ascii
	prompt
	mget *
	quit

If your data files are in NetCDF format, or are compressed enter

	binary
	prompt
	dir
	mget *.ascii.Z
or
	mget *.cdf.Z
or
	mget *.cdf

whichever applies to your selection.

If you use the data in publications, please acknowledge the TAO Project
Office, Dr. Michael J. McPhaden, Director.  Also, we would appreciate
receiving a preprint and/or reprint of those publications utilizing
the data for inclusion in the TAO Project bibliography.  Relevant
publications should be sent to:

The TAO Project Office
NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
7600 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115

Please send comments, questions, or problems to "atlasrt@noaa.gov".