Southern Ocean Time Series (SOTS) Quality Assessment and Control - Sediment Trap Particle Fluxes, Version 1.0, 1997-2018.

Abstract

This report details the quality assessment and control procedures applied to the particle flux data collected by the Subantarctic Zone (SAZ) sediment trap moorings. The datasets are publicly available via the AODN Data Portal https://portal.aodn.org.au/search. The Southern Ocean Time Series (SOTS) is a Sub-Facility of the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated under collaborative arrangements amongthe CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Bureau of Meteorology, and University of Tasmania, including via the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership. The primary focus is sustained observing of ocean properties and processes important to climate,carbon cycling, and ocean productivity. The SOTS Sub-Facility consists of deep ocean moorings deployed in Subantarctic waters southwest of Tasmania, equipped with autonomous sensors and sample collectors. SOTS moorings are serviced annually - the existing moorings are recovered and new moorings are deployed. Some sensor data is transmitted from the moorings via satellite in near real time. Other sensor data and samples are recovered during the annual service visit.