Formation of winter barrier layers in the northern South China Sea: A study based on Argo profiling data from 2008 to 2020

The data was used in the paper “Formation of winter barrier layers in the northern South China Sea: A study based on Argo profiling data from 2008 to 2020”. The data include interpolated Argo temperature/salinity (T/S) profiles for the period 2008-2020 in the 15°N–23°N, 109°E–121°E region, as well as derived mixed layer depth (MLD), isothermal layer depth (ILD), and barrier layer thickness (BLT). The original archival data were obtained from the French Argo Data Center (ftp://ftp.ifremer.fr/ifremer/argo/geo/pacific_ocean).