Datasets to Transient Attracting Profiles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Summary

This repository contains supplementary datasets to the publication Transient Attracting Profiles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Kunz et al., 2024, preprint). TRansient Attracting Profiles (TRAPs, Serra et al. (2020), Serra and Haller (2016)) have been computed using the TRAPs detection software by Mattia Serra (2020). Raw TRAPs were further post-processed, tracked and analysed using software by Luca Kunz (2024). Here we provide two comprehensive datasets:

the TRAPS GPGP dataset: This dataset contains 20 years of TRAP detections with various attributes like e.g. TRAP lifetimes, propagation speeds and pattern detections in the surrounding vorticity field. It comes in 20 yearly files named MULTIOBS_24HI_e025_TRAPS_GPGP_20XX.pkl.

the TRAPS DRIFTERS HPS dataset: This dataset contains 20 years of drifter-TRAP pair detections with attributes like e.g. drifter-TRAP distances, drifter retention times and TRAP attraction strengths. It comes in one file named MULTIOBS_24HI_e025_GDP_24HI_TRAPS_DRIFTERS_HPS_0019_r075.pkl.

You can use these scripts to open the datasets and follow the analysis in Kunz et al. (2024):

aa_define_classes.ipynbrxa_read_TRAPS_GPGP.ipynbrxb_read_TRAPS_DRIFTERS_HPS.ipynbrxc_ANALYSIS_EXAMPLES.ipynb

Make sure you adopt the directory structure that is provided here. You can use the .yml file to set up the working environment via conda env create -f trapsgpgp_condaenvexport.yml or conda create -n trapsgpgp -f trapsgpgp_condaenvexport.yml.

For supplementary videos, see: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10943728

Source data

Raw TRAPs and relative vorticity are derived from daily snapshots of near-surface geostrophic + Ekman currents from the product Global Total Surface and 15m Current (COPERNICUS-GLOBCURRENT) from Altimetric Geostrophic Current and Modeled Ekman Current Reprocessing that is provided by the E.U. Copernicus Marine Service (CMEMS, 2022a). Surface drifter positions have been consulted from the Global Drifter Program (Lumpkin and Centurioni, 2019). This repository does not include raw TRAP detections, raw drifter data or relative vorticity fields but they can be shared upon request.

Acknowledgements

This work is a contribution to the project L3 Meso- to submesoscale turbulence in the ocean of the Collaborative Research Centre TRR 181 Energy Transfer in Atmosphere and Ocean funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and has been conducted in collaboration with The Ocean Cleanup.

Please cite

When using the data, please cite

Kunz, L., Griesel, A., Eden, C., Duran, R., and Sainte-Rose, B.: Transient Attracting Profiles in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Ocean Sci., 20, 1611–1630, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-1611-2024, 2024. 

and provide a link to the repository.