Sensor-driven glider data processing

Abstract

Gliders data are an important source of observations for oceanographers, hence harmonization and interoperability among different acquisition systems are key enablers towards efficient data sharing and effective reuse. As of today, several organizations operate gliders and produce customized results. The paper presents the effort done at CMRE, in collaboration with research partners, for the definition of a selfcontained data file that eases both human readability and automated processing. By relying on community recognized standards, highly interoperable glider data sets are generated, whilst preserving readability thanks to the standardized and straightforward internal organization of variables. The paper includes also a description of the processing of the principal oceanographic sensor, i.e., CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Depth), and an overview of the glider data management lifecycle.