1. INTRODUCTION The Ocean Climate Laboratory (OCL) at the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) is supported by the NOAA Climate and Global Change program to produce scientifically quality controlled oceanographic databases. Work to date includes (a) quality control of historical in situ temperature, salinity, oxygen, phosphate, nitrate, and silicate data, (b) preparation of one-degree latitude-longitude mean fields for each of these parameters using objective analysis techniques, and (c) estimates of the interannual variability of upper ocean thermal structure for the world oceans. Specifically, this project has produced five ocean atlases describing the global distributions of these parameters and two technical reports describing the quality control and processing procedures (see section 6 of this documentation for a listing of these publications). Observed and standard level profile data (along with quality control flags) used in the production of these atlases are being made available to the international oceanographic community on the World Ocean Atlas 1994 CD-ROM series (referred to herein as WOA94). In addition, the CD-ROM series contains the objectively analyzed one-degree latitude-longitude mean fields for each ofthe measured parameters, and two derived parameters (Apparent Oxygen Utilization and oxygen saturation), five-degree square statistics of standard level values, and upper ocean anomaly fields for 1960-1990. Profile data on the CD-ROM series are recorded in ASCII format and sorted geographically, so they are easy to access and manipulate. The CD-ROMs are formatted in the ISO 9660 standard. The Ocean Climate Laboratory expresses its thanks to all those who provided us with their comments and helped us develop an improved product. 2. DISC CONTENTS A. DATA SOURCES The data used in this project are all the data found in the NODC archives as of the first quarter of 1993. Levitus and Gelfeld (1992) show global distribution maps of the data held in these files for all years (1900-1992). In addition, data gathered as a result of the NODC's National Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue (NODAR) and the IOC/IODE Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue (GODAR) projects, not yet incorporated into the NODC master archives, were included in this study. A description of the NODAR and GODAR projects can be found in Levitus et al. (1994e). The NODAR and GODAR data sets are in separate files (since they have not yet been archived at the NODC). Data on the CD-ROM series includes the following flagged data: 1. BOTTLE - NODC Station Data Parameters: Station data profiles may have one or more of the following parameters: Temperature (in situ) Salinity Oxygen Phosphate Silicate Nitrate Source: NODC Station Data 2. BOTTLE2 - Station Data not incorporated in the NODC archives as of the first quarter of 1993 Sources: Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar Studies Southern Ocean data set Australian station data (CSIRO) China Sea station data (from POI, Russia) Combined Mediterranean area station data German station data Icelandic station data ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) station data Indian NODC station data Japanese station data (JODC) Korean NODC station data Miscellaneous ship of opportunity station data Station Data from the Southtow cruise (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) 3. CTD - NODC CTD/STD (Conductivity/Salinity, Temperature, Depth probe) Parameters: Temperature and/or salinity Source: All data from NODC's low resolution CTD file (CTD profiles from the NODC Station Data file were transferred to this file) 4. CTD2 - CTD data not incorporated in the NODC archives as of the first quarter of 1993 Sources: Russian Barents Sea CTD data Eastern Arctic CTD data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (CD-ROM) CTD data from the Southtow cruises 5. MBT - NODC Mechanical Bathythermograph data Parameter: Temperature Source: NODC MBT file (Includes NODC MBT data from the NODC Selected Bathythermograph (SBT) data file that contains data at selected depths) 6. MBT2 - MBT data not incorporated in the NODC archives as of the first quarter of 1993 Sources: Argentine MBT data French Salinobathythermograph data Japanese Fisheries MBT data Canadian (MEDS) MBT data Miscellaneous ship of opportunity MBT data Russian MBT data Declassified Russian Navy MBT data and Russian NODC MBT data MBT data from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 7. XBT - NODC Expendable Bathythermograph data Parameter: Temperature Source: NODC XBT file. (Includes XBT data from NODC SBT (Selected Bathythermograph) file) [NOTE: XBT standard level values were interpolated using observed level measurements corrected for a drop rate error for T4, T6, and T7 probes. T5 depths were not recalculated (any measurement at a depth greater than 725 m was assumed to be from a T5 probe).] The drop rate correction applied was: zc = 6.733t - 0.00254t^2 where zc = the corrected depth "t", the elapsed time since the instrument entered the ocean, is determined by: t = 1498.14 - (2244447.430 - 462.963 z0) ^1/2 where z0 = originally calculated depth (Szabados, personal communication). 8. XBT2 - XBT data not incorporated in the NODC archives as of the first quarter of 1993 Sources: British XBT data Real time GTSPP (Global Temperature-Salinity Pilot Project) XBT data Delayed mode GTSPP XBT data Canadian (MEDS) XBT data Declassified US Navy XBT data [NOTE: XBT standard level values were interpolated using observed level measurements corrected for a drop rate error for T4, T6, and T7 probes. T5 depths were not recalculated.] 9. DBT2 - Digital Bathythermograph data Parameter: Temperature Sources: Canadian (MEDS) DBT data Japanese DBT data 10. ISD - Station data from India (data set received too late to incorporate into BOTTLE2 file) Parameters: Temperature and/or salinity B. PARAMETER INFORMATION Table 1 shows the units, precision, and number of profiles for each parameter. Table 1. Precision and number of profiles for each parameter ---------------------------------------------------------------- Maximum stored # of Parameter Unit precision Profiles ---------------------------------------------------------------- Temperature degrees C xx.xxx 4,553,426 Salinity p.s.u. xx.xxx 1,254,771 Oxygen ml/l xx.xx 367,635 Phosphate micromolar xx.xx 184,153 Silicate micromolar xxx.x 110,413 Nitrate micromolar xx.x 75,403 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Each parameter is identified in the data by a numeric code. The parameters and their associated codes are listed in Table 2. Table 2. Numeric codes associated with each parameter -------------------------------------- Code Parameter -------------------------------------- 0 Depth 1 Temperature (in-situ) 2 Salinity 3 Oxygen 4 Phosphate 6 Silicate 8 Nitrate -------------------------------------- C. QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES Observed level data were checked for quality prior to interpolation to standard levels. We call the actual measured value of an oceanographic parameter at some depth an "observed level" datum. The value interpolated to a standard level depth is referred to as a "standard level" datum. For many analysis purposes, it is necessary to interpolate from observed level to standard depth levels. The standard depth analysis levels selected for this study are listed in Table 3 and include the 30 NODC standard depths and three additional levels at 3500, 4500, and 5500 meters. There are additional standard level depth data in some of the standard level profiles (i.e., 6000, 6500, 7000, 7500, 8000, 8500, 9000 meters, numbered 34 through 40). Table 3. Standard levels and depths (in meters) ----------------------------------------------------- Level Depth Level Depth 1 0 18 900 2 10 19 1000 3 20 20 1100 4 30 21 1200 5 50 22 1300 6 75 23 1400 7 100 24 1500 8 125 25 1750 9 150 26 2000 10 200 27 2500 11 250 28 3000 12 300 29 3500 13 400 30 4000 14 500 31 4500 15 600 32 5000 16 700 33 5500 17 800 ----------------------------------------------------- The quality of the observed and standard level data were checked using the following procedures: At the NODC: 1. NODC Data Processing Branch checks - date/time fields (valid values, ship speed between stations). It also performs broad range checks, compares each station to an NODC T-S climatology, and checks for large density inversions. At the NODC/Ocean Climate Laboratory: 2. Preliminary checks - checks for duplicate profiles, depth inversions; 3. Range check of the observed level data for each major basin as a function of depth; [Note: some temperature values reported in the XBT2 observed level file exceeded 999.999 and therefore were set to the missing value -99.999. These values are flagged with a 1 (failed range check).] 4. Large temperature inversion and gradient checks; 5. Density inversion check on the standard level data; 6. XBT drop rate correction before interpolation of observed level to standard level data for T4, T6, and T7 probes; 7. Standard deviation check; 8. Check for unrealistic features after an initial computation of the objective analysis. Data were flagged for each quality control check. A datum or profile flagged as an outlier was excluded from further checks. A description of the flags can be found in Appendix 1. The quality control procedures have been documented in two NOAA Technical Reports (Boyer and Levitus, 1994; Conkright et al., 1994). D. AVAILABLE OBJECTIVELY ANALYZED FIELDS Table 4 lists the mean objectively analyzed fields for each parameter. Table 4. Available objectively analyzed fields for each parameter ----------------------------------------------------------------- PARAMETER ANNUAL* SEASON** MONTH*** Temperature X X X Salinity X X X Dissolved oxygen X X Apparent Oxygen Utilization X X Oxygen saturation X X Phosphate X Nitrate X Silicate X *ANNUAL - composite of all data regardless of season or year **SEASON - data composite based on seasons following the Northern Hemisphere convention. The seasons are defined as: Winter (January - March) Spring (April - June) Summer (July - September) Fall (October - December) *** MONTH - data composite for each month. January through December analysis for 19 depth levels only (0-1000 m) ----------------------------------------------------------------- For all the files in Table 4, there are accompanying mask files. The mask file contains the number of grid points which contain data within the radius of influence surrounding each grid box. If a grid box contains three or fewer observations within its radius of influence, the mask value for that one-degree square will be zero. This file is used in plotting routines to "mask" or cover up areas with three or less observations (see maps in the World Ocean Atlases for fields plotted using these masks). 3. CD-ROM DIRECTORY STRUCTURE There are ten CD-ROMs in the initial WOA94 CD-ROM series. (1) WOA94-01 contains the objectively analyzed one-degree latitude-longitude mean fields for temperature; (2) WOA94-02 contains the mean salinity fields plus five-degree square statistics of standard level values for all parameters; (3) WOA94-03 contains the mean fields for oxygen, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, oxygen saturation, phosphate, silicate and nitrate. Observed and standard level profile data (along with quality control flags) used in the production of these atlases are in WOA94-04 through WOA94-09. WOA94 -10 contains objectively analyzed fields of yearly upper ocean temperature anomalies. A brief outline of the CD-ROM contents is presented below. A 3.5" diskette distributed with the CD-ROMs contains the following: a. An ASCII (readme.txt) and a PostScript (readme.ps) version of this document. The ASCII version contains text only and the PostScript version contains both text and appendices. b. A FORTRAN program analyzed.for; an example program which prints user designated segments of an analyzed field. The user is prompted for a file name, depth level, and latitude and longitude. The output to the screen is a ten by ten array of analyzed values where the middle value in the 10x10 array is at the requested latitude and longitude grid point. c. A FORTRAN program 5degree.for; reads the five-degree square statistics; the user is prompted for a file name, depth level, and latitude and longitude. The output to the screen is a ten by ten array o f either mean, standard deviation or number of observations for the selected box where the middle value in the array is at the requested latitude and longitude grid point. d. A FORTRAN program profile.for; reads the observed and standard level profile data and prints to screen the first 10 profiles in the selected data file. The user is prompted for a file name. e. A file profile.d; sample output from profile.for, the first 10 profiles from the file \sind\3507\3507bot.ol in WOA94- 04. f. A C program profile.c; reads the observed and standard level profile data and prints to screen the first 10 profiles in the selected data file. The user is prompted for a file name. A. WOA94-01 through WOA94-03 Appendices 2a, 2b and 2c show an outline of the directory structure of CD-ROMs WOA94-01, WOA94-02, and WOA94-03. The ANALYZED subdirectory of WOA94- 01 contains the objectively analyzed one- degree latitude-longitude annual, seasonal, and monthly mean fields for temperature. WOA94-02 contains the subdirectory ANALYZED which includes the mean annual, seasonal, and monthly salinity fields. The 5DEGREE subdirectory contains the five-degree square statistics at standard level depths for all analyzed parameters. The statistics are number of observations, mean, and standard deviation. WOA94-03 contains the mean fields of oxygen, oxygen saturation, Apparent Oxygen Utilization, phosphate, silicate and nitrate. Appendix 3 lists all the files found on discs WOA94-01 through WOA94-03. Table 5 shows the format used to store the analyzed fields. Table 5. Format for the analyzed data ---------------------------------------------------------------- Each data point corresponds to a one degree latitude by one degree longitude grid box. There are ten analyzed data values per line FIELD STARTING LENGTH FORMAT COLUMN Value 1 8 F8.4 Value 9 8 F8.4 Value 17 8 F8.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . Value 73 8 F8.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Appendices 4 and 5 show the horizontal co-ordinate system used to store the data. The first value in the analyzed files corresponds to the geographic grid box originating at the south pole with longitudes from 0ø to 1øE and latitudes from -90ø to -89øS. The file then loops around longitude first and then latitude. The number of data values is 360x180. The five degree statistics follow the same pattern, listing 72x36 values. The data format is the same for the 5 degree statistics, as illustrated in Table 5, except for the files containing number of observations which have a format of F8.0 . B. WOA94-04 through WOA94-07 CD-ROMs WOA94-04 through WOA94-07 contain the flagged observed level profile data. Table 6 describes the contents of each disc. Table 6. Contents in WOA94-04 through WOA94-07 ----------------------------------------------------- CD-ROM OCEANIC REGION ----------------------------------------------------- WOA94-04 North Atlantic (0-40N) North Indian South Indian WOA94-05 North Atlantic (40N-90N) South Atlantic WOA94-06 North Pacific (0-30N) South Pacific WOA94-07 North Pacific (30-90N) ----------------------------------------------------- The data are organized by ten-degree latitude-longitude squares, which are identified using the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ten-degree square numbering scheme (illustrated in Appendices 6a and 6b). Within each of the WMO subdirectories are ten files containing the NODC archived data BOTTLE, CTD, XBT, and MBT and the NODAR and GODAR data which are in separate files (since they have not yet been archived at the NODC) named BOTTLE2, CTD2, MBT2, XBT2, DBT2 and ISD. Profiles in each file are sorted by date. Appendices 7a and 7b show an example of the subdirectory structure of these discs. WOA94-04 includes parts of the Mediterranean Sea (WMOs 7300, 1300, 1301, 1302 and 1303). WOA94-05 includes the rest of the Mediterranean (WMOs 1400, 1401, and 1402) as well as the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and the Arctic Ocean from 100W to 100E as part of the North Atlantic (40N-90N) data. The North Indian Ocean data in WOA94-04 includes the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. WOA94-07 includes the Arctic Ocean from 100E-100W as part of the North Pacific (30-90N) data. WMOs 7007, 7008, 7108 and 7109 are duplicated in WOA94-04 and WOA94-07 since the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans overlap in these areas. [Note: Some of the WMO files listed in the CD-ROMs contain no data since they correspond to land areas.] A positive longitude in the data denotes the Eastern Hemisphere, a negative longitude denotes the Western Hemisphere, a positive latitude denotes North and a negative latitude South. C. WOA94-08 and WOA94-09 WOA94-08 and WOA94-09 contain flagged standard level profile data; all the Atlantic and Indian Ocean data are in WOA94-08 and all the Pacific Ocean standard level data are found in WOA94- 09. As with the observed level data, the data are organized by WMO square, and within each WMO square are ten files containing the data associated with each probe or instrument type used in this study. WMOs 7007, 7008, 7108 and 7109 are duplicated in WOA94-08 and WOA94-09 due to an overlap between the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans. Appendix 8 shows an example of the directory structure in WOA94-08 and WOA94-09. D. WOA94-10 WOA94 disc 10 contains the yearly temperature anomaly fields presented by Levitus et al. (1994e). In order to prepare estimates of the interannual variability of upper ocean thermal structure for the world ocean (within the limits of available data), Levitus et al. (1994d) used all historical temperature profiles (reversing thermometer, MBTs, STDs, and XBTs corrected for the known systematic drop-rate error). Procedures used to produce these fields were: a. For each profile, the data at observed levels were interpolated to standard levels. Then, the climatological monthly mean value for the corresponding one-degree square, was subtracted from each synoptic standard level value. This procedure is intended to minimize the contribution of the annual cycle to the anomaly value. b. All remaining historical temperature data were composited by individual years on a one-degree latitude-longitude grid at standard observation levels. Any difference of greater than 4 degrees C was discarded as unrepresentative. c. The composited temp erature anomaly one-degree-square means for each year were objectively analyzed using the modified objective analysis techniques described by Levitus et al. (1994d). A value of zero was used as the first-guess value at each grid point. The resulting upper ocean temperature anomaly fields for the period 1960-1990 are available at each standard level for the upper 400 m of the water column. Data density is a strong function of both depth and year. For example early MBTs had a maximum depth range of 140 m, and later models a maximum range of 295 m. XBTs came into use around 1966. Because of the scattered distribution of data in both space and time for the world ocean, we have computed "mask" fields for each standard level and for each year. These mask fields indicate whether a one-degree square anomaly field was produced using at least four one-degree square anomaly values in the influence region surrounding each gridbox. Thus the mask fields represent a critically important means of determining the amount of data used in generating the upper ocean anomaly fields. 4. FILE STRUCTURE/FORMAT All observed and standard level data files are written as a series of 80 character length ASCII records. Programs to read the data and print out the first ten profiles are found on the diskette accompanying the CD-ROM data. [Note that when transferring the C or FORTRAN programs from the diskette to a UNIX workstation, the programs need to be stripped of the "control M" (carriage return) character added by DOS. On a DEC workstation, use the utility "dos2ult"; otherwise use the translate command as follows: tr -d "\015" output This command will convert from the DOS (CR/LF) to the UNIX end of line convention (LF).] In each file, each physical record is 80 bytes long. The first 80 bytes represent the profile "header" and contain descriptive information about the profile. A detailed record layout for the header data can be found in Appendix 9 and a description of the layout of the data, in Appendix 10. The header includes the country code (see Appendix 11 for a listing of these codes), NODC cruise number, position, date-time, Ocean Climate Laboratory profile number, the number of observed or standard depth levels, an identifier for observed or standard level data, number of parameters, parameter codes, and a flag if all of a parameter's data in that profile fails a quality control check (see Appendix 1 for a description of the flags). The file naming convention is redundant so that files downloaded from the CD-ROM to DOS or UNIX storage devices can be completely identified from their names. For example, a BOTTLE (Nansen cast) file will have a fully qualified name such as \NATLEQ40\5008\5008BOT.OL if observed level data and \NATLEQ40\5008\5008BOT.SL if standard level data for DOS devices. Disc 10 (Interannual Variability of Upper Ocean Thermal Structure) contains files representing the upper ocean (0-400 m) yearly temperature fields for the period 1960-1990 in its root directory. The data can be read using analyzed.for (the number of standard levels, "kdim", needs to be changed from 33 to 13 in analyzed.for). The file naming convention for disc 10 is: tanom_60.obj - temperature anomaly fields for 1960 tanom_60.msk - mask file associated with tanom_60.obj for 1960 5. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The minimum hardware requirements for accessing data and information from the CD-ROMs are: - CD-ROM reader capable of accessing a disc formatted with the ISO 9660 standard, and - Microsoft MS-DOS Extensions for CD-ROM, Version 2.0 or higher for DOS machines. 6. REFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DATA A. DOCUMENTATION DESCRIBING THE QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES: (a) Boyer, T.P. and S. Levitus. 1994. Quality control and processing of historical temperature, salinity and oxygen data. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 81. 65 pp. (b) Conkright, M.E., T.P. Boyer and S. Levitus. 1994. Quality control and processing of historical nutrient data. NOAA Technical Report NESDIS 79. 75 pp. B. DOCUMENTATION DESCRIBING THE ANALYSIS PROCEDURES AND THE DATA DISTRIBUTION AND ANALYSIS: (a) Conkright, M.E., S. Levitus and T.P. Boyer. 1994. World Ocean Atlas 1994 Volume 1: Nutrients. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 1. 150 pp. (b) Levitus S. and T.P. Boyer. 1994a. World Ocean Atlas 1994 Volume 2: Oxygen. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 2. 186 pp. (c) Levitus S., R. Burgett and T.P. Boyer. 1994b. World Ocean Atlas 1994 Volume 3: Salinity. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 3. 99 pp. (d) Levitus S. and T.P. Boyer. 1994c. World Ocean Atlas 1994 Volume 4: Temperature. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 4. 117 pp. (e) Levitus, S., T.P. Boyer and J. Antonov. 1994e. World Ocean Atlas 1994 Volume 5: Interannual Variability of Upper Ocean Thermal Structure. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 5. 176 pp. C. DOCUMENTATION DESCRIBING THE NON-ARCHIVED NODC DATA USED: Levitus, S., R. Gelfeld, T. Boyer and D. Johnson. 1994e. Results of the NODC and IOC Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue Projects. Key to Oceanographic Records Documentation No. 19, NODC, Washington, D.C. D. DOCUMENTATION DESCRIBING THE NODC ARCHIVED DATA USED: Levitus, S. and R. Gelfeld. 1992. NODC Inventory of Physical Oceanographic Profiles. Key to Oceanographic Records Documentation No. 18, NODC, Washington, D.C. Appendix 1. Description of flags used in the quality check of observed and standard level data. ERROR FLAGS WHOLE-PROFILE FLAGS (AS A FUNCTION OF PARAMETER) 0 - accepted profile 1 - failed annual standard deviation check 2 - two or more density inversions (Levitus 1982 criteria) 3 - flagged cruise 4 - failed seasonal standard deviation check 5 - failed monthly standard deviation check 6 - failed annual and seasonal standard deviation check 7 - failed annual and monthly standard deviation check 8 - failed seasonal and monthly standard deviation check 9 - failed annual, seasonal, and monthly standard deviation check FLAGS ON INDIVIDUAL DEPTHS AND OBSERVATIONS Depth Flags: 0 - accepted value 1 - error in recorded depth (same or less than previous depth) 2 - temperature inversion of magnitude > 0.3 degrees/meter 3 - temperature gradient of magnitude > 0.7 degrees/meter 4 - temperature gradient (of > 0.7 degrees/meter) followed closely by a temperature inversion (of > 0.3 degrees/meter) or vice versa Observed Level Flags: 0 - accepted value 1 - range outlier (outside of range check) 2 - density inversion 3 - failed range check and density inversion check Standard Level Flags: 0 - accepted value 1 - bullseye marker 2 - density inversion 3 - failed annual standard deviation check 4 - failed seasonal standard deviation check 5 - failed monthly standard deviation check 6 - failed annual and seasonal standard deviation check 7 - failed annual and monthly standard deviation check 8 - failed seasonal and monthly standard deviation check 9 - failed annual, seasonal and monthly standard deviation check EXPLANATION OF ERROR FLAGS A. CHECK FOR DEPTH INVERSIONS AND DUPLICATE DEPTHS Depth error flags: (1) If the second of two successive depths is shallower than the first (a depth inversion), the second depth will be marked with a flag value = 1. (2) If two successive depths are shallower than the first depth, every depth reading following the first will be marked with a flag value = 1. (3) If two successive depth readings are equal, the second reading will be marked with a flag value = 1. (4) All correct depths are marked with a flag value = 0. B. STANDARD DEVIATION CHECK ON STANDARD LEVEL DATA This check calculates the mean and standard deviation of five-degree square latitude-longitude boxes for annual (all parameters), seasonal (temperature, salinity, and oxygen), and monthly (temperature and salinity) periods. Data are flagged if (1) a value is five standard deviations away from the mean in coastal waters (defined as any five-degree grid box adjacent to a land grid point or any five-degree grid box with a bottom depth of less than 200 m). (2) a value is four standard deviations away from the mean in near coastal waters or near the ocean floor (defined as any one-degree grid point where the depth is equal to or less than the depth in an adjacent one-degree box) or any adjacent five-degree grid box is designated coastal. (3) a value is three standard deviations away from the mean in open ocean. (4) if a profile contains two or more standard deviation failures, the whole profile is flagged. C. DENSITY CHECKS FOR TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY PROFILES The criteria for an instability are described by Levitus (1982). Flags are assigned (1) for density inversions at the depths where they occur in the observed and standard level profiles. (2) when two or more density inversions (or instabilities) occur in a standard level profile. The entire profile is then flagged. [Note: Stability checks were performed on observed as well as standard level data. Observed level flags are included for information only, since they were not used to exclude any data from the profile data sets. Whole-profile flags for stability and standard deviation checks are for standard level data only. For informational purposes, if a standard level profile includes a whole profile density flag (or standard deviation flag), the observed level data will also include a whole profile flag.] D. CRUISE FLAGS Indicates all profiles from a cruise have anomalous data. E. BULLSEYE FLAGS Flags individual depths with anomalous data which cause ripple effects or "bullseyes" in the contoured objectively analyzed data.