The Low-Frequency Drift of Paroscientific Pressure Transducers

Abstract

Sea Data pressure gauges were used in 1985 and 1986 in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean to record subsurface pressure. These gauges were equipped with Paroscientific Digiquartz pressure transducers which suffered mechanical failures leading to severe drifts in the records. Independent data are available to make direct determinations of these drifts for six out of a total of seven deployments. This note documents these drifts to provide a model of the drift characteristics for records where no independent data are available. The best model is a linear drift. The onset of the drift appears to be nearly coincident for all instruments, but the slopes vary considerably.