OMG Airborne eXpendable Conductivity Temperature Depth (AXCTD) Profiles

This dataset contains in situ profile measurements from Airborne eXpendable Conductivity Temperature Depth (AXCTD) probes. It provides salinity, density, temperature and sound velocity as a function of depth in the water column. The AXCTDs were jettisoned from a plane to collect temperature and salinity readings around Greenland, where a ship would have had difficulties maneuvering. After landing in the water, the AXCTDs drop a weighted sensor from the surface that falls at a well-calibrated rate, measuring water temperature and conductivity as it falls. An equation is used to determine the depth of the measurements as the probe falls, and another equation is used to convert temperature, depth and conductivity into salinity. These probes provided measurements of the ocean's physical characteristics around Greenland, where a ship would have had difficulties maneuvering. The AXCTDs are part of the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission. The AXCTDs were deployed in the fall from 2016 through 2021, covering the entire continental shelf surrounding Greenland as part of a once-per-year survey. The goal of the mission is to find out what contributions the ocean has on Greenland's melting glaciers.