Climatology of Solomon Sea currents, temperature and salinity measured by glider

The Solomon Sea carries the equatorward western boundary current of the South Pacific, a principal pathway of subtropical-equatorial communication. This climatological Solomon Sea velocity dataset is derived from more than a decade of Spray glider missions in the Solomon Sea providing measurements of temperature, salinity and vertically-averaged over the dive-depth horizontal velocity. Only the segments of glider missions making complete transects between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands (SOL) are considered. All data were low-pass filtered to remove small scale variability not relevant for geostrophy prior to computing a 12-month average annual cycle and its mean. The glider samples the Solomon Sea in a clockwise loop, naturally forming two separate tracks: a northern track (with eastbound sampling) and a southern track (with westbound sampling). The two tracks have distinct velocity characteristics. The annual cycle is thus computed separately for each track. All data are reported as a function of the cross-basin fraction ɸ, varying between 0 at PNG and 1 at SOL, where contours of constant ɸ align with the general direction of the mean flow in the Solomon Sea. All cross-section data are binned vertically in depth (Δz =10m) and horizontally in ɸ (Δɸ = 0.05). A discontinuity occurs at depth 700m since missions sampling to 1000m began in mid-2013.