MASCS 2.0: Synchronous atmospheric and oceanic data from a triangle-shaped moored array in the northern South China Sea in 2016

This work presents a triangle-shaped moored array dataset from the northern South China Sea (MASCS 2.0) comprising three buoys and two moorings with synchronous atmospheric and oceanic data in 2016. The moored array was deployed from late July to early August and recovered in October. The atmospheric data are observed by traditional meteorological sensors and automatic meteorological stations ~2.5 m above the sea surface at buoys. The oceanic data include temperature and salinity data obtained using conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) recorders or temperature sensors. It also includes currents observed by acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) and current meters. The data reveal air–sea interactions and oceanic processes in the upper and bottom ocean, especially the influence of tropical cyclones (TCs) and the transition of water from summer to autumn at the moored stations. Multiscale processes, such as air–sea interactions, tides, internal waves, and low-frequency flows and variations, were recorded. The data are valuable and may have many potential applications, including analyzing the phenomena and mechanisms of air–sea interactions and ocean dynamics as well as validating and improving numerical model simulations, data reanalysis, and assimilations.