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- Author or Editor: Lijing Cheng x
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Abstract
The choice of climatology is an essential step in calculating the key climate indicators, such as historical ocean heat content (OHC) change. The anomaly field is required during the calculation and is obtained by subtracting the climatology from the absolute field. The climatology represents the ocean spatial variability and seasonal circle. This study found a considerable weaker long-term trend when historical climatologies (constructed by using historical observations within a long time period, i.e., 45 yr) were used rather than Argo-period climatologies (i.e., constructed by using observations during the Argo period, i.e., since 2004). The change of the locations of the observations (horizontal sampling) during the past 50 yr is responsible for this divergence, because the ship-based system pre-2000 has insufficient sampling of the global ocean, for instance, in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas this area began to achieve full sampling in this century by the Argo system. The horizontal sampling change leads to the change of the reference time (and reference OHC) when the historical-period climatology is used, which weakens the long-term OHC trend. Therefore, Argo-period climatologies should be used to accurately assess the long-term trend of the climate indicators, such as OHC.
Abstract
The choice of climatology is an essential step in calculating the key climate indicators, such as historical ocean heat content (OHC) change. The anomaly field is required during the calculation and is obtained by subtracting the climatology from the absolute field. The climatology represents the ocean spatial variability and seasonal circle. This study found a considerable weaker long-term trend when historical climatologies (constructed by using historical observations within a long time period, i.e., 45 yr) were used rather than Argo-period climatologies (i.e., constructed by using observations during the Argo period, i.e., since 2004). The change of the locations of the observations (horizontal sampling) during the past 50 yr is responsible for this divergence, because the ship-based system pre-2000 has insufficient sampling of the global ocean, for instance, in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas this area began to achieve full sampling in this century by the Argo system. The horizontal sampling change leads to the change of the reference time (and reference OHC) when the historical-period climatology is used, which weakens the long-term OHC trend. Therefore, Argo-period climatologies should be used to accurately assess the long-term trend of the climate indicators, such as OHC.
Correction for Systematic Errors in the Global Dataset of Temperature Profiles from Mechanical BathythermographsAbstract
A homogeneous, consistent, high-quality in situ temperature dataset covering some decades in time is crucial for the detection of climate changes in the ocean. For the period from 1940 to the present, this study investigates the data quality of temperature profiles from mechanical bathythermographs (MBT) by comparing these data with reference data obtained from Nansen bottle casts and conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) profilers. This comparison reveals significant systematic errors in MBT measurements. The MBT bias is as large as 0.2°C before 1980 on the global average and reduces to less than 0.1°C after 1980. A new empirical correction scheme for MBT data is derived, where the MBT correction is country, depth, and time dependent. Comparison of the new MBT correction scheme with three schemes proposed earlier in the literature suggests a better performance of the new schemes. The reduction of the biases increases the homogeneity of the global ocean database being mostly important for climate change–related studies, such as the improved estimation of the ocean heat content changes.
Abstract
A homogeneous, consistent, high-quality in situ temperature dataset covering some decades in time is crucial for the detection of climate changes in the ocean. For the period from 1940 to the present, this study investigates the data quality of temperature profiles from mechanical bathythermographs (MBT) by comparing these data with reference data obtained from Nansen bottle casts and conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) profilers. This comparison reveals significant systematic errors in MBT measurements. The MBT bias is as large as 0.2°C before 1980 on the global average and reduces to less than 0.1°C after 1980. A new empirical correction scheme for MBT data is derived, where the MBT correction is country, depth, and time dependent. Comparison of the new MBT correction scheme with three schemes proposed earlier in the literature suggests a better performance of the new schemes. The reduction of the biases increases the homogeneity of the global ocean database being mostly important for climate change–related studies, such as the improved estimation of the ocean heat content changes.
Abstract
Assessment of the upper-ocean (0–700 m) heat content (OHC) is a key task for monitoring climate change. However, irregular spatial and temporal distribution of historical subsurface observations has induced uncertainties in OHC estimation. In this study, a new source of uncertainties in calculating OHC due to the insufficiency of vertical resolution in historical ocean subsurface temperature profile observations was diagnosed. This error was examined by sampling a high-vertical-resolution climatological ocean according to the depth intervals of in situ subsurface observations, and then the error was defined as the difference between the OHC calculated by subsampled profiles and the OHC of the climatological ocean. The obtained resolution-induced error appeared to be cold in the upper 100 m (with a peak of approximately −0.1°C), warm within 100–700 m (with a peak of ~0.1°C near 180 m), and warm when averaged over 0–700-m depths (with a global average of ~0.01°–0.025°C, ~1–2.5 × 1022 J). Geographically, it showed a warm bias within 30°S–30°N and a cold bias at higher latitudes in both hemispheres, the sign of which depended on the concave or convex shape of the vertical temperature profiles. Finally, the authors recommend maintaining an unbiased observation system in the future: a minimal vertical depth bin of 5% of the depth was needed to reduce the vertical-resolution-induced bias to less than 0.005°C on global average (equal to Argo accuracy).
Abstract
Assessment of the upper-ocean (0–700 m) heat content (OHC) is a key task for monitoring climate change. However, irregular spatial and temporal distribution of historical subsurface observations has induced uncertainties in OHC estimation. In this study, a new source of uncertainties in calculating OHC due to the insufficiency of vertical resolution in historical ocean subsurface temperature profile observations was diagnosed. This error was examined by sampling a high-vertical-resolution climatological ocean according to the depth intervals of in situ subsurface observations, and then the error was defined as the difference between the OHC calculated by subsampled profiles and the OHC of the climatological ocean. The obtained resolution-induced error appeared to be cold in the upper 100 m (with a peak of approximately −0.1°C), warm within 100–700 m (with a peak of ~0.1°C near 180 m), and warm when averaged over 0–700-m depths (with a global average of ~0.01°–0.025°C, ~1–2.5 × 1022 J). Geographically, it showed a warm bias within 30°S–30°N and a cold bias at higher latitudes in both hemispheres, the sign of which depended on the concave or convex shape of the vertical temperature profiles. Finally, the authors recommend maintaining an unbiased observation system in the future: a minimal vertical depth bin of 5% of the depth was needed to reduce the vertical-resolution-induced bias to less than 0.005°C on global average (equal to Argo accuracy).
Abstract
A complete map of the ocean subsurface temperature is essential for monitoring aspects of climate change such as the ocean heat content (OHC) and sea level changes and for understanding the dynamics of the ocean/climate variation. However, global observations have not been available in the past, so a mapping strategy is required to fill the data gaps. In this study, an advanced mapping method is proposed to reconstruct the historical ocean subsurface (0–700 m) temperature field from 1940 to 2014 by using ensemble optimal interpolation with a dynamic ensemble (EnOI-DE) approach and a multimodel ensemble of phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) historical and representative concentration pathway 4.5 simulations. The reconstructed field is a combination of two parts: a first guess provided by the ensemble mean of CMIP5 models and an adjustment by minimizing the analysis error with the assistance of error covariance determined by the CMIP5 models. The uncertainty of the field can also be assessed. This new approach was evaluated using a series of tests, including subsample tests by using data from the Argo period, idealized tests by specifying a truth field from the models, and withdrawn-data tests by removing 20% of the observations for validation. In addition, the authors showed that the ocean mean state, long-term trends, and interannual and decadal variability are all well represented. Furthermore, the most significant benefit of this method is to provide an improved estimate of the long-term historical OHC changes since 1940, which have important implications for Earth’s energy budget.
Abstract
A complete map of the ocean subsurface temperature is essential for monitoring aspects of climate change such as the ocean heat content (OHC) and sea level changes and for understanding the dynamics of the ocean/climate variation. However, global observations have not been available in the past, so a mapping strategy is required to fill the data gaps. In this study, an advanced mapping method is proposed to reconstruct the historical ocean subsurface (0–700 m) temperature field from 1940 to 2014 by using ensemble optimal interpolation with a dynamic ensemble (EnOI-DE) approach and a multimodel ensemble of phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) historical and representative concentration pathway 4.5 simulations. The reconstructed field is a combination of two parts: a first guess provided by the ensemble mean of CMIP5 models and an adjustment by minimizing the analysis error with the assistance of error covariance determined by the CMIP5 models. The uncertainty of the field can also be assessed. This new approach was evaluated using a series of tests, including subsample tests by using data from the Argo period, idealized tests by specifying a truth field from the models, and withdrawn-data tests by removing 20% of the observations for validation. In addition, the authors showed that the ocean mean state, long-term trends, and interannual and decadal variability are all well represented. Furthermore, the most significant benefit of this method is to provide an improved estimate of the long-term historical OHC changes since 1940, which have important implications for Earth’s energy budget.
On the Consistency of the Bottle and CTD Profile DataAbstract
Nansen bottle casts served as the main oceanographic instrumentation type for more than a century since the establishing of the technique in the late 1890s. Between the end of the 1960s and the end of the 1990s Nansen cast technique has been gradually replaced by electronic sensor profilers (CTD). Both instrumentation types are considered as the most accurate among other oceanographic instruments and are often used as the unbiased reference. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of the consistency of the temperature data from Nansen casts and CTD profilers analyzing the quasi-collocated bottle and CTD data between the 1960s and the 1990s when both instrumentation types overlap. We found that Nansen casts tend to overestimate the sample depth with reversing mercury-in-glass thermometer temperatures being on average slightly lower compared to CTD data. Respectively, depth and temperature corrections are provided. Further, we estimated the ocean heat content changes between 1955 and 1990 using (along with all other instrumentation types) corrected and uncorrected Nansen cast data. These calculations show that for the upper 2 km layer the global average warming trend for this time period increases from 0.20 ± 0.05 W m−2 for the uncorrected data to 0.28 ± 0.06 W m−2 for the corrected data at the 90% confidence level. Finally, we suggest that the Nansen bottle cast profiles be put into a separate instrumentation group within the World Ocean Database.
Abstract
Nansen bottle casts served as the main oceanographic instrumentation type for more than a century since the establishing of the technique in the late 1890s. Between the end of the 1960s and the end of the 1990s Nansen cast technique has been gradually replaced by electronic sensor profilers (CTD). Both instrumentation types are considered as the most accurate among other oceanographic instruments and are often used as the unbiased reference. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of the consistency of the temperature data from Nansen casts and CTD profilers analyzing the quasi-collocated bottle and CTD data between the 1960s and the 1990s when both instrumentation types overlap. We found that Nansen casts tend to overestimate the sample depth with reversing mercury-in-glass thermometer temperatures being on average slightly lower compared to CTD data. Respectively, depth and temperature corrections are provided. Further, we estimated the ocean heat content changes between 1955 and 1990 using (along with all other instrumentation types) corrected and uncorrected Nansen cast data. These calculations show that for the upper 2 km layer the global average warming trend for this time period increases from 0.20 ± 0.05 W m−2 for the uncorrected data to 0.28 ± 0.06 W m−2 for the corrected data at the 90% confidence level. Finally, we suggest that the Nansen bottle cast profiles be put into a separate instrumentation group within the World Ocean Database.
Abstract
Recent estimates of the global warming rates suggest that approximately 9% of Earth’s excess heat has been cumulated in the deep and abyssal oceans (below 2000-m depth) during the last two decades. Such estimates assume stationary trends deducted as long-term rates. To reassess the deep ocean warming and potentially shed light on its interannual variability, we formulate the balance between Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI), the steric sea level, and the ocean heat content (OHC), at yearly time scales during the 2003–18 period, as a variational problem. The solution is achieved through variational minimization, merging observational data from top-of-atmosphere EEI, inferred from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), steric sea level estimates from altimetry minus gravimetry, and upper-ocean heat content estimates from in situ platforms (mostly Argo floats). Global ocean reanalyses provide background-error covariances for the OHC analysis. The analysis indicates a 2000-m–bottom warming of 0.08 ± 0.04 W m−2 for the period 2003–18, equal to 13% of the total ocean warming (0.62 ± 0.08 W m−2), slightly larger than previous estimates but consistent within the error bars. The analysis provides a fully consistent optimized solution also for the steric sea level and EEI. Moreover, the simultaneous use of the different heat budget observing networks is able to decrease the analysis uncertainty with respect to the observational one, for all observation types and especially for the 0–700-m OHC and steric sea level (more than 12% reduction). The sensitivity of the analysis to the choice of the background time series proved insignificant.
Significance Statement
Several observing networks provide complementary information about the temporal evolution of the global energy budget. Here, satellite observations of Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI) and steric sea level and in situ–derived estimates of ocean heat content anomalies are combined in a variational analysis framework, with the goal of assessing the deep ocean warming. The optimized solution accounts for the uncertainty of the different observing networks. Furthermore, it provides fully consistent analyses of global ocean heat content, steric sea level, and EEI, which show smaller uncertainty than the original observed time series. The deep ocean (below 2000-m depth) exhibits a significant warming of 0.08 ± 0.04 W m−2 for the period 2003–18, equal to the 13% of the total ocean warming.
Abstract
Recent estimates of the global warming rates suggest that approximately 9% of Earth’s excess heat has been cumulated in the deep and abyssal oceans (below 2000-m depth) during the last two decades. Such estimates assume stationary trends deducted as long-term rates. To reassess the deep ocean warming and potentially shed light on its interannual variability, we formulate the balance between Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI), the steric sea level, and the ocean heat content (OHC), at yearly time scales during the 2003–18 period, as a variational problem. The solution is achieved through variational minimization, merging observational data from top-of-atmosphere EEI, inferred from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), steric sea level estimates from altimetry minus gravimetry, and upper-ocean heat content estimates from in situ platforms (mostly Argo floats). Global ocean reanalyses provide background-error covariances for the OHC analysis. The analysis indicates a 2000-m–bottom warming of 0.08 ± 0.04 W m−2 for the period 2003–18, equal to 13% of the total ocean warming (0.62 ± 0.08 W m−2), slightly larger than previous estimates but consistent within the error bars. The analysis provides a fully consistent optimized solution also for the steric sea level and EEI. Moreover, the simultaneous use of the different heat budget observing networks is able to decrease the analysis uncertainty with respect to the observational one, for all observation types and especially for the 0–700-m OHC and steric sea level (more than 12% reduction). The sensitivity of the analysis to the choice of the background time series proved insignificant.
Significance Statement
Several observing networks provide complementary information about the temporal evolution of the global energy budget. Here, satellite observations of Earth’s energy imbalance (EEI) and steric sea level and in situ–derived estimates of ocean heat content anomalies are combined in a variational analysis framework, with the goal of assessing the deep ocean warming. The optimized solution accounts for the uncertainty of the different observing networks. Furthermore, it provides fully consistent analyses of global ocean heat content, steric sea level, and EEI, which show smaller uncertainty than the original observed time series. The deep ocean (below 2000-m depth) exhibits a significant warming of 0.08 ± 0.04 W m−2 for the period 2003–18, equal to the 13% of the total ocean warming.
Abstract
A new technique to estimate three major biases of XBT probes (improper fall rate, start-up transient, and pure temperature error) has been developed. Different from the well-known and standard “temperature error free” differential method, the new method analyses temperature profiles instead of vertical gradient temperature profiles. Consequently, it seems to be more noise resistant because it uses the integral property over the entire vertical profile instead of gradients. Its validity and robustness have been checked in two ways. In the first case, the new integral technique and the standard differential method have been applied to a set of simulated XBT profiles having a known fall-rate equation to which various combinations of pure temperature errors, random errors, and spikes have been added for the sake of this simulation. Results indicated that the single pure temperature error has little impact on the fall-rate coefficients for both methods, whereas with the added random error and spikes the simulation leads to better results with the new integral technique than with the standard differential method. In the second case, two sets of profiles from actual XBT versus CTD comparisons, collected near Barbados in 1990 and in the western Mediterranean (2003–04 and 2008–09), have been used. The individual fall-rate coefficients and start-up transient for each XBT profile, along with the overall pure temperature correction, have been calculated for the XBT profiles. To standardize procedures and to improve the terms of comparison, the individual start-up transient estimated by the integral method was also assigned and included in calculations with the differential method. The new integral method significantly reduces both the temperature difference between XBT and CTD profiles and the standard deviation. Finally, the validity of the mean fall-rate coefficients and the mean start-up transient, respectively, for DB and T7 probes as precalculated equations was verified. In this case, the temperature difference is reduced to less than 0.1°C for both datasets, and it randomly distributes around the null value. In addition, the standard deviation on depth values is largely reduced, and the maximum depth error computed with the datasets near Barbados is within 1.1% of its real value. Results also indicate that the integral method has a good performance mainly when applied to profiles in regions with either a very large temperature gradient, at the thermocline or a very small one, toward the bottom.
Abstract
A new technique to estimate three major biases of XBT probes (improper fall rate, start-up transient, and pure temperature error) has been developed. Different from the well-known and standard “temperature error free” differential method, the new method analyses temperature profiles instead of vertical gradient temperature profiles. Consequently, it seems to be more noise resistant because it uses the integral property over the entire vertical profile instead of gradients. Its validity and robustness have been checked in two ways. In the first case, the new integral technique and the standard differential method have been applied to a set of simulated XBT profiles having a known fall-rate equation to which various combinations of pure temperature errors, random errors, and spikes have been added for the sake of this simulation. Results indicated that the single pure temperature error has little impact on the fall-rate coefficients for both methods, whereas with the added random error and spikes the simulation leads to better results with the new integral technique than with the standard differential method. In the second case, two sets of profiles from actual XBT versus CTD comparisons, collected near Barbados in 1990 and in the western Mediterranean (2003–04 and 2008–09), have been used. The individual fall-rate coefficients and start-up transient for each XBT profile, along with the overall pure temperature correction, have been calculated for the XBT profiles. To standardize procedures and to improve the terms of comparison, the individual start-up transient estimated by the integral method was also assigned and included in calculations with the differential method. The new integral method significantly reduces both the temperature difference between XBT and CTD profiles and the standard deviation. Finally, the validity of the mean fall-rate coefficients and the mean start-up transient, respectively, for DB and T7 probes as precalculated equations was verified. In this case, the temperature difference is reduced to less than 0.1°C for both datasets, and it randomly distributes around the null value. In addition, the standard deviation on depth values is largely reduced, and the maximum depth error computed with the datasets near Barbados is within 1.1% of its real value. Results also indicate that the integral method has a good performance mainly when applied to profiles in regions with either a very large temperature gradient, at the thermocline or a very small one, toward the bottom.
Quantification of the Effect of Water Temperature on the Fall Rate of Expendable BathythermographsAbstract
A very large portion of the historical information on ocean temperatures has been measured using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) devices. For decades, these devices provided the majority of global information. It is, therefore, important to quantify their accuracy and identify biases in this important historical dataset. Here, calculations are made of the influence of water temperature on the rate of descent of the XBT devices into the ocean waters. In colder regions, the larger viscosity of the water is expected to cause a greater drag force on the device, which would slow the descent. It was found through computational fluid dynamic models that the impact of temperature and viscosity on the probe descent is approximately 2.2% for water temperatures that range from 0° to 27°C. Probe-specific temperature-dependent fall rate equations were applied to 269 collocated XBT/conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) measurements from two different research cruises. It was found that the probe-specific descent equations were an improvement over the uncorrected method. Next, in an effort to automate the process, the fall rate coefficients were related to the topmost measured temperature in the water column. With this relationship, comparisons were made between the probe-specific descent calculations and 2937 high-resolution XBT–CTD pairs. It was found that again, the new methodology outperformed the standard fall rate equation. The new method was also compared with an independent correction method that was previously published. It was found that both new methods were improvements upon the industry-standard fall rate calculation. Subsequent calculations using the top-100-m water temperature were performed and were found to be statistically insignificant compared to the proposed simplified method.
Abstract
A very large portion of the historical information on ocean temperatures has been measured using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) devices. For decades, these devices provided the majority of global information. It is, therefore, important to quantify their accuracy and identify biases in this important historical dataset. Here, calculations are made of the influence of water temperature on the rate of descent of the XBT devices into the ocean waters. In colder regions, the larger viscosity of the water is expected to cause a greater drag force on the device, which would slow the descent. It was found through computational fluid dynamic models that the impact of temperature and viscosity on the probe descent is approximately 2.2% for water temperatures that range from 0° to 27°C. Probe-specific temperature-dependent fall rate equations were applied to 269 collocated XBT/conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) measurements from two different research cruises. It was found that the probe-specific descent equations were an improvement over the uncorrected method. Next, in an effort to automate the process, the fall rate coefficients were related to the topmost measured temperature in the water column. With this relationship, comparisons were made between the probe-specific descent calculations and 2937 high-resolution XBT–CTD pairs. It was found that again, the new methodology outperformed the standard fall rate equation. The new method was also compared with an independent correction method that was previously published. It was found that both new methods were improvements upon the industry-standard fall rate calculation. Subsequent calculations using the top-100-m water temperature were performed and were found to be statistically insignificant compared to the proposed simplified method.
Abstract
Systematic biases in historical expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data are examined using two datasets: 4151 XBT–CTD side-by-side pairs from 1967 to 2011 and 218 653 global-scale XBT–CTD pairs (within one month and 1°) extracted from the World Ocean Database 2009 (WOD09) from 1966 to 2010. Using the side-by-side dataset, it was found that both the pure thermal bias and the XBT fall rate (from which the depth of observation is calculated) increase with water temperature. Correlations between the terminal velocity A and deceleration B terms of the fall-rate equation (FRE) and between A and the offset from the surface terms are obtained, with A as the dominant term in XBT fall-rate behavior. To quantify the time variation of the XBT fall-rate and pure temperature biases, global-scale XBT–CTD pairs are used. Based on the results from the two datasets, a new correction scheme for historical XBT data is proposed for nine independent probe-type groups. The scheme includes corrections for both temperature and depth records, which are all variable with calendar year, water temperature, and probe type. The results confirm those found in previous studies: a slowing in fall rate during the 1970s and 2000s and the large pure thermal biases during 1970–85. The performance of nine different correction schemes is compared. After the proposed corrections are applied to the XBT data in the WOD09 dataset, global ocean heat content from 1967 to 2010 is reestimated.
Abstract
Systematic biases in historical expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data are examined using two datasets: 4151 XBT–CTD side-by-side pairs from 1967 to 2011 and 218 653 global-scale XBT–CTD pairs (within one month and 1°) extracted from the World Ocean Database 2009 (WOD09) from 1966 to 2010. Using the side-by-side dataset, it was found that both the pure thermal bias and the XBT fall rate (from which the depth of observation is calculated) increase with water temperature. Correlations between the terminal velocity A and deceleration B terms of the fall-rate equation (FRE) and between A and the offset from the surface terms are obtained, with A as the dominant term in XBT fall-rate behavior. To quantify the time variation of the XBT fall-rate and pure temperature biases, global-scale XBT–CTD pairs are used. Based on the results from the two datasets, a new correction scheme for historical XBT data is proposed for nine independent probe-type groups. The scheme includes corrections for both temperature and depth records, which are all variable with calendar year, water temperature, and probe type. The results confirm those found in previous studies: a slowing in fall rate during the 1970s and 2000s and the large pure thermal biases during 1970–85. The performance of nine different correction schemes is compared. After the proposed corrections are applied to the XBT data in the WOD09 dataset, global ocean heat content from 1967 to 2010 is reestimated.
Abstract
Because they make up 56% of ocean temperature profile data between 1967 and 2001, quantifying the biases in expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data is fundamental to understanding the evolution of the planetary energy and sea level budgets over recent decades. The nature and time history of these biases remain in dispute and dominate differences in analyses of the history of ocean warming. A database of over 4100 side-by-side deployments of XBTs and conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) data has been assembled, and this unique resource is used to characterize and separate out the pure temperature bias from depth error in a way that was not previously possible. Two independent methods of bias extraction confirm that the results are robust to bias model and fitting method. It was found that there is a pure temperature bias in Sippican probes of ~0.05°C, independent of depth. The temperature bias has a time dependency, being larger (~0.1°C) in the earlier analog acquisition era and being likely due to changes in recorder type. Large depth errors are found in the 1970s–80s in shallower-measuring Sippican T4/T6 probe types, but the deeper-measuring Sippican T7/Deep Blue (DB) types have no error during this time. The Sippican T7/DB fall rate slows from ~1990 onward. It is found that year-to-year variations in fall rate have a bigger effect on corrections to the global XBT database than do any small effects of ocean temperature on fall rate. This study has large implications for the future development of better schemes to correct the global historical XBT archive.
Abstract
Because they make up 56% of ocean temperature profile data between 1967 and 2001, quantifying the biases in expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data is fundamental to understanding the evolution of the planetary energy and sea level budgets over recent decades. The nature and time history of these biases remain in dispute and dominate differences in analyses of the history of ocean warming. A database of over 4100 side-by-side deployments of XBTs and conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) data has been assembled, and this unique resource is used to characterize and separate out the pure temperature bias from depth error in a way that was not previously possible. Two independent methods of bias extraction confirm that the results are robust to bias model and fitting method. It was found that there is a pure temperature bias in Sippican probes of ~0.05°C, independent of depth. The temperature bias has a time dependency, being larger (~0.1°C) in the earlier analog acquisition era and being likely due to changes in recorder type. Large depth errors are found in the 1970s–80s in shallower-measuring Sippican T4/T6 probe types, but the deeper-measuring Sippican T7/Deep Blue (DB) types have no error during this time. The Sippican T7/DB fall rate slows from ~1990 onward. It is found that year-to-year variations in fall rate have a bigger effect on corrections to the global XBT database than do any small effects of ocean temperature on fall rate. This study has large implications for the future development of better schemes to correct the global historical XBT archive.
