
Salinity:

Salinity data begin in 1987 and continue to the present 
at sites located across the Tropical Pacific and 
Atlantic. Salinity is in practical salinity units (PSU).

For detailed information about 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.

If you selected high resolution salinity, you may find
that you have several files, each with a different averaging
interval, for example, hourly, 15 minute, and 10 minute.

In ascii format files organized by site, to the right of 
the data you will find quality codes and sensor codes, 
and in hourly ascii files you will also find instrument 
codes. All of these codes are defined below.

In ascii format files with all sites in one file, you
will find only quality codes along with the salinity
data.

In NetCDF format files organized by site, you will find a 
quality code variable and a source code variable, each 
with the same shape as the data. Quality codes have
variable code 1900, and source codes have variable 
code 1901. In hourly netcdf files, you will also find 
an instrument code variable with code 1902.
 
In netcdf files with all sites in one file, you will
find only a quality variable accompanying the salinity 
data with variable code 1900.

Using the quality 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

Instrument code definitions:

    0 - No Sensor
    4 - Conductivity (FSI)
   14 - NextGen Conductivity
   24 - NextGen Conductivity (Firmware version 5.03+)
   70 - Seacat Conductivity
   71 - Microcat Conductivity   
   99 - Unknown


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 relative web address,
i.e., you must insert the server name, which is most likely
www.pmel.noaa.gov:
/cache-tao/st1/deliv/data30972

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".

