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Ocean currents from lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers (LADCP) from the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) project from 2003 to 2014 assembled at the University of Hawaii and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: February 28, 2026 | Last Modified: 2019-10-27T00:00:00.000+00:00
This collection holds the Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profile (LADCP) estimates of ocean currents collected for the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) project. LADCPs estimate deep ocean absolute currents and shear. The project has been completed (CLIVAR ended in 2014). ADCPs use the Doppler shift of an outgoing frequency along a beam to return measured velocity along that beam. ADCPs typically have 4 beams, allowing measurement of velocity in 3 dimensions, in bins of varying distance from the transducer head. In this application, the ADCP is mounted on a CTD rosette frame and lowered along with the rest of the package, hence called Lowered ADCP ("LADCP"). LADCP requires less ship time in estimating deep currents as compared to historic measuring systems such as Pegasus systems. The goal is to determine water velocities to the full depth of the ocean for each LADCP deployment. Ocean velocities are very small (few cm/s), especially in the deep water. The package is typically lowered or raised at 1m/s for much of the water column, creating a challenging data processing situation. To reduce the LADCP measurements, one must utilize other data streams such as CTD at both standard levels and at the highest frequency of recording, GPS positions, ship navigation, ocean depth, and shipboard ADCP. Lowered ADCP data requires ancillary information to improve the processed data product. Over generations, the processing has improved and these ancillary components are systematically collected along with the LADCP data. In older datasets, they may be missing entirely. The directory structure and naming convention for the submitted LADCP datasets attempt to rationalize 20 years of data acquisition and processing by a collection of scientists who were inventing the field of LADCP acquisition and processing, so there is some variety in the organization and naming of the original datasets. Evolution of the instrumentation and processing techniques have continued. For the NCEI archive, three levels are defined: 1) Level-0, raw LADCP and ancillary data streams of the down- and up-cast, 2) Level-1, processed LADCP and ancillary data streams for the down-, up-, and averaged cast, and 3) Level-2 science-ready subset of select parameters. Presently only Levels 0 and 1 will be archived since work continues for defining error associated with Level 3. Note, Level 1 data are "as processed" based on the processing code pertinent at that time. There is one processed file per station cast. The ancillary streams of Level-1 are the basic oceanographic variables of interest, and may also include a variety of additional fields associated with the processing.

Resources

9 resources available

  • NCEI Dataset Landing Page

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • Granule Search

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1109/curm.1990.110905

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1993)010%3C0764:dvpwsc%3E2.0.co;2

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/2010jtecho708.1

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2002)019%3C0794:dvpula%3E2.0.co;2

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • https://doi.org/10.25921/g961-ya97

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

  • NCEI Contact Information

    PLACEHOLDER/VALUE
    Download

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0204131 0204163 0204257 0204287 0204390 0204527 0204624 0204728 0204826 0204926 0204959 0205030 0205089 0205196 0205277 0205333 0205385 0205436 0205555 0205622 0205677 0205724 0205783 0205839 0205889 0205948 CURRENT SPEED - EAST/WEST COMPONENT (U) CURRENT SPEED - NORTH/SOUTH COMPONENT (V) HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE ADCP CTD physical profile NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown R/V Atlantis R/V Knorr R/V Melville R/V Roger Revelle R/V THOMAS G. THOMPSON RV Nathaniel B. Palmer Florida State University Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution University of Hawai'i at Mānoa U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Research Program (U.S. CLIVAR) Bay of Bengal Caribbean Sea Gulf of Alaska Indian Ocean North Atlantic Ocean North Pacific Ocean Philippine Sea South Atlantic Ocean South Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean Tasman Sea oceanography COLUMBIA/LDEO > Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University DOC/NOAA/OAR/AOML > Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, OAR, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/OAR/PMEL > Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, OAR, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce WHOI > WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION at20 at20_20 kn173a kn173b knox03rr knox04rr knox14rr mv0407 mv0408 mv0911 mv1001 mv1305 mv1306 nbp1102 nbp1403 r0801 rb0304 rb0501 rb0711 rb1002 rb1102 rb1304 rb1307 rr0903 tn191_leg1 tn191_leg2 zhng01rr 316N200309 316N200310 318M200406 318M20091121 318M20100105 318M20130321 320620110219 320620140320 325020060213 33AT20120324 33AT20120419 33RO200306_01 33RO200501 33RO20071215 33RO20100308 33RO20110926 33RO20130803 33RO20131223 33RR200501 33RR20070204 33RR20070322 33RR20080204 33RR20090320 CLIVAR > Climate Variability EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CIRCULATION > OCEAN CURRENTS EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN PRESSURE > WATER PRESSURE ADCP > Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth LADCP > Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler Ships ATLANTIS (call sign: KAQP, ICES code: 33AT, 1997-) KNORR (call sign: KCEJ, ICES code: 316N, 1970-) MELVILLE (call sign: WECB, ICES code: 318M, 1969-) NATHANIEL B. PALMER (call sign: WPB3210, ICES code: 3206, 1992-) ROGER REVELLE (call sign: KAOU, ICES code: 33RR, 1996-) Ronald H. Brown (call sign: WTEC, ICES code: 33RO, 1997-) THOMAS G. THOMPSON (call sign: KTDQ, ICES code: 3250, 1991-) OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN > BAY OF BENGAL OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > GULF OF ALASKA OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN A10 A13_5 A16N A16S A20 A22 I05 I06S I08S I09N P02 P06E P06W P16N P16S P18 S04P

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
                                            {
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description This collection holds the Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profile (LADCP) estimates of ocean currents collected for the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) project. LADCPs estimate deep ocean absolute currents and shear. The project has been completed (CLIVAR ended in 2014). ADCPs use the Doppler shift of an outgoing frequency along a beam to return measured velocity along that beam. ADCPs typically have 4 beams, allowing measurement of velocity in 3 dimensions, in bins of varying distance from the transducer head. In this application, the ADCP is mounted on a CTD rosette frame and lowered along with the rest of the package, hence called Lowered ADCP ("LADCP"). LADCP requires less ship time in estimating deep currents as compared to historic measuring systems such as Pegasus systems. The goal is to determine water velocities to the full depth of the ocean for each LADCP deployment. Ocean velocities are very small (few cm/s), especially in the deep water. The package is typically lowered or raised at 1m/s for much of the water column, creating a challenging data processing situation. To reduce the LADCP measurements, one must utilize other data streams such as CTD at both standard levels and at the highest frequency of recording, GPS positions, ship navigation, ocean depth, and shipboard ADCP. Lowered ADCP data requires ancillary information to improve the processed data product. Over generations, the processing has improved and these ancillary components are systematically collected along with the LADCP data. In older datasets, they may be missing entirely. The directory structure and naming convention for the submitted LADCP datasets attempt to rationalize 20 years of data acquisition and processing by a collection of scientists who were inventing the field of LADCP acquisition and processing, so there is some variety in the organization and naming of the original datasets. Evolution of the instrumentation and processing techniques have continued. For the NCEI archive, three levels are defined: 1) Level-0, raw LADCP and ancillary data streams of the down- and up-cast, 2) Level-1, processed LADCP and ancillary data streams for the down-, up-, and averaged cast, and 3) Level-2 science-ready subset of select parameters. Presently only Levels 0 and 1 will be archived since work continues for defining error associated with Level 3. Note, Level 1 data are "as processed" based on the processing code pertinent at that time. There is one processed file per station cast. The ancillary streams of Level-1 are the basic oceanographic variables of interest, and may also include a variety of additional fields associated with the processing.
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identifier gov.noaa.nodc:CLIVAR-LADCP
issued 2019-10-02T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
                                            [
  "0204131",
  "0204163",
  "0204257",
  "0204287",
  "0204390",
  "0204527",
  "0204624",
  "0204728",
  "0204826",
  "0204926",
  "0204959",
  "0205030",
  "0205089",
  "0205196",
  "0205277",
  "0205333",
  "0205385",
  "0205436",
  "0205555",
  "0205622",
  "0205677",
  "0205724",
  "0205783",
  "0205839",
  "0205889",
  "0205948",
  "CURRENT SPEED - EAST/WEST COMPONENT (U)",
  "CURRENT SPEED - NORTH/SOUTH COMPONENT (V)",
  "HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE",
  "ADCP",
  "CTD",
  "physical",
  "profile",
  "NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown",
  "R/V Atlantis",
  "R/V Knorr",
  "R/V Melville",
  "R/V Roger Revelle",
  "R/V THOMAS G. THOMPSON",
  "RV Nathaniel B. Palmer",
  "Florida State University",
  "Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory",
  "NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory",
  "NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory",
  "Scripps Institution of Oceanography",
  "University of Hawai'i at Mānoa",
  "Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution",
  "University of Hawai'i at Mānoa",
  "U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability Research Program (U.S. CLIVAR)",
  "Bay of Bengal",
  "Caribbean Sea",
  "Gulf of Alaska",
  "Indian Ocean",
  "North Atlantic Ocean",
  "North Pacific Ocean",
  "Philippine Sea",
  "South Atlantic Ocean",
  "South Pacific Ocean",
  "Southern Ocean",
  "Tasman Sea",
  "oceanography",
  "COLUMBIA/LDEO > Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University",
  "DOC/NOAA/OAR/AOML > Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, OAR, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "DOC/NOAA/OAR/PMEL > Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, OAR, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "WHOI > WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION",
  "at20",
  "at20_20",
  "kn173a",
  "kn173b",
  "knox03rr",
  "knox04rr",
  "knox14rr",
  "mv0407",
  "mv0408",
  "mv0911",
  "mv1001",
  "mv1305",
  "mv1306",
  "nbp1102",
  "nbp1403",
  "r0801",
  "rb0304",
  "rb0501",
  "rb0711",
  "rb1002",
  "rb1102",
  "rb1304",
  "rb1307",
  "rr0903",
  "tn191_leg1",
  "tn191_leg2",
  "zhng01rr",
  "316N200309",
  "316N200310",
  "318M200406",
  "318M20091121",
  "318M20100105",
  "318M20130321",
  "320620110219",
  "320620140320",
  "325020060213",
  "33AT20120324",
  "33AT20120419",
  "33RO200306_01",
  "33RO200501",
  "33RO20071215",
  "33RO20100308",
  "33RO20110926",
  "33RO20130803",
  "33RO20131223",
  "33RR200501",
  "33RR20070204",
  "33RR20070322",
  "33RR20080204",
  "33RR20090320",
  "CLIVAR > Climate Variability",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CIRCULATION > OCEAN CURRENTS",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN PRESSURE > WATER PRESSURE",
  "ADCP > Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler",
  "CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth",
  "LADCP > Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler",
  "Ships",
  "ATLANTIS (call sign: KAQP, ICES code: 33AT, 1997-)",
  "KNORR (call sign: KCEJ, ICES code: 316N, 1970-)",
  "MELVILLE (call sign: WECB, ICES code: 318M, 1969-)",
  "NATHANIEL B. PALMER (call sign: WPB3210, ICES code: 3206, 1992-)",
  "ROGER REVELLE (call sign: KAOU, ICES code: 33RR, 1996-)",
  "Ronald H. Brown (call sign: WTEC, ICES code: 33RO, 1997-)",
  "THOMAS G. THOMPSON (call sign: KTDQ, ICES code: 3250, 1991-)",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > CARIBBEAN SEA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > INDIAN OCEAN > BAY OF BENGAL",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > GULF OF ALASKA",
  "OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN",
  "A10",
  "A13_5",
  "A16N",
  "A16S",
  "A20",
  "A22",
  "I05",
  "I06S",
  "I08S",
  "I09N",
  "P02",
  "P06E",
  "P06W",
  "P16N",
  "P16S",
  "P18",
  "S04P"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
                                            []
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2019-10-27T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
                                            {
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
references 
                                            [
  "https://doi.org/10.1109/curm.1990.110905",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(1993)010%3C0764:dvpwsc%3E2.0.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/2010jtecho708.1",
  "https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2002)019%3C0794:dvpula%3E2.0.co;2",
  "https://doi.org/10.25921/g961-ya97"
]
rights otherRestrictions
spatial 114.846,-77.349,133.03,63.301
temporal 2003-06-04T00:00:00+00:00/2014-05-05T00:00:00+00:00
title Ocean currents from lowered acoustic Doppler current profilers (LADCP) from the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) project from 2003 to 2014 assembled at the University of Hawaii and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

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