A digital upper ocean temperature atlas for the southwest Pacific:1955- 1988

A digital atlas of southwest Pacific upper ocean temperatures (DASPOT) is now available for the period between 1955 and 1988. This atlas consists of three uniformly-gridded datasets. The first two datasets are three-monthly (January, April, July and October) temperature time series over two depth ranges. The third is a temperature climatology for this 34-year period. These three datasets are interpolated to a 2° x 2° horizontal grid, with a 5 m vertical spacing to a maximum depth of 450 m. The datasets were generated from most of the available bathythermograph casts collected between 0°-50°s, 140-180°E using a combination of empirical orthogonal function analysis and objective mapping. The first temperature time series covers the 34-year period, 1955-1988, from the surface to a depth of 100 m. The second time series is for the shorter period from 1973-1988, but extending to a depth of 450 m. The climatological dataset describes the annual cycle to a depth of 450 m for each calendar month. Objective estimates of tlre a posteriori (mapping) error have been calculated in the objective mapping procedure, and are provided with each gridded temperature estimate. Analysis of the temperature anomalies from this atlas has shown it to be suitable for large scale studies of interannual climate variability and ocean dynamics.