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

This work presents a triangle-shaped moored array dataset (MASCS 2.0) comprising three buoys and two moorings with synchronous atmospheric and oceanic data in the northern South China Sea during 2016. The moored array was deployed at late July to early August and recovered at October. The atmospheric data are observed by traditional meteorological sensors and automatic meteorological stations ~2.5 m above sea surface at the buoys. The oceanic data consist temperature and salinity 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 transition of water from summer to autumn at the moored stations. Multiscale processes were recorded, such as air–sea fluxes, tides, internal waves, and low-frequency flows and variations. The data are valuable and may have a lot of 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.