Quality Control and Interpolations of WOCE-TOGA Drifter Data

Abstract

Satellite-tracked drifting buoy data are being collected by numerous investigators and agencies in several countries for the World Ocean Circulation Experiment-Tropical Oceans Global Atmosphere (WOCE-TOGA) Surface Velocity Program. By the end of the century, and thereafter, this global dataset will provide the best available climatology and chronology of the surface currents of the World Ocean. To expedite completion of research quality datasets for archival and dissemination, a data acquisition activity is being conducted at NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, Florida. At AOML, data from drifting buoys of cooperating operators are quality controlled and optimally interpolated to uniform 6-h interval trajectories for archival at the Marine Environmental Data Service (Canada). This report describes in detail the procedures used in preparing these data for the benefit of second- or third-party users, or future buoy operators who may wish to process data in a consistent way. Particular attention is given to provide quantitative estimates for uncertainty of interpolation.