(No DOI)
Processed XBT data from Gough Island Relief on SA Agulhas II Voyage 012, September 2014

The is processed Expendable Bathythermograph (Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT)) data from the Gough Island Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas II Voyage 012, 04 September 2014 and 9 October 2014. The Gough Island Relief Voyage is an annual cruise undertaken by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to change the overwintering team in Gough Island and to replenish the supplies at the British’s leased Gough Island Research base. The cruise also serves as a means to transport the residents and/or visitors to Tristan da Cunha using a signed agreement between South Africa and United Kingdom (UK). This voyage was to deliver the Gough 60 team to the island and return with the Gough 59 team.

(No DOI)
Raw SADCP data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, April 2013

This is raw Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (SADCP) data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, 10 April to 16 May 2013. The 2013 Marion Relief Voyage 007 on board South Africa’s new polar research and supply vessel, the SA Agulhas II, afforded yet another opportunity to conduct multi-institutional (DEA, DAFF, UCT, SAEON, Rhodes University) and multi-disciplinary ship-based oceanographic research that focused on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, biogeochemistry, plankton and benthic communities and island-based top predators. The overall aim is to establish an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, the global requirements of the Southern Ocean Observation System (SOOS), CCAMLR, ACAP, etc., by documenting ship-board observations in the oceanic environment around the Prince Edward Islands in a holistic...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.05252023
Processed CTD discrete observations from the West Coast Hake Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 059, February 1988

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected between 02 February and 25 February 1988, during the West Coast Hake Biomass Cruise on the Africana Voyage 059, in the southern part of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of South Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000. The main objective of the cruise was to survey by means of trawling the abundance of adult and recruiting hake in South African waters; to investigate the diurnal cycle of hake and other demersal species; to make some experimental trawls in deep water to collect deep-water specimens of fish and squid; to collect routine biological material on demersal species from South West African waters; to investigate the occurence, distribution and abundance of squid and squid larvae;...

(No DOI)
Preliminary processed SADCP data from the Gough Island Relief cruise on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 021, September 2016

This is processed Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (SADCP) data from the Gough Island Relief cruise on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 021, between 01 September 2016 and 06 October 2016. The Gough Island Relief Voyage is an annual cruise undertaken by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) to change the overwintering team in Gough Island and to replenish the supplies at the British’s leased Gough Island Research base. The cruise also serves as a means to transport the residents and/or visitors to Tristan da Cunha using a signed agreement between South Africa and United Kingdom (UK). This voyage was to deliver the Gough 62 team to the island and return with the Gough 61 team. There was no scientific team onboard this voyage, however the Chief Navigations officer activated the ship mounted ADCP along the journey. This dataset was processed using older standards which may not align with international best practices and the standards currently adhered to by the Department of...

(No DOI)
Preliminary processed CTD continuous observations from the Algoa Voyage 242, August 2017

SeaBird CTD Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column. During some cruises additional instruments for oxygen, fluorescence, Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR), Surface PAR (SPAR), turbidity, beam attenuation, beam transmission measurements were connected to the CTD unit. Here we present preliminary processed downcast CTD continuous data collected between 24 August 2017 and 30 August 2017, during Voyage 242 on the Algoa, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of South Africa. This data was collected as part of the Intergrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB), which has been conducting multi-disciplinary long-term monitoring along the Kleinsee, Namaqualand, Elands/St Helena Bay and Scarborough transects off the west coast of South Africa since 2013. This dataset was processed using older standards which may not align with...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052151
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected during the 2014 Marion Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas Voyage 011

The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data. Here we present 33 processed XBT casts collected in the South West Indian Ridge area and along the Crossroads Transect, between 15 April 2014 and 05 May 2014, during the 2014 Marion Relief Voyage.

(No DOI)
Preliminary processed CTD discrete observations from the Algoa Voyage 246, February 2018

SeaBird CTD Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column. During some cruises additional instruments for oxygen, fluorescence, Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR), Surface PAR (SPAR), turbidity, beam attenuation, beam transmission measurements were connected to the CTD unit. Here we present preliminary processed CTD discrete data from the upcast collected between 15 February 2018 and 22 February 2018, during Voyage 246 on the Algoa, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of South Africa. This data was collected as part of the Intergrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB), which has been conducting multi-disciplinary long-term monitoring along the Kleinsee, Namaqualand, Elands/St Helena Bay and Scarborough transects off the west coast of South Africa since 2013.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.25010001
Processed underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) observations from Algoa Voyage 268, February 2020

A SeaBird SBE45 Thermosalinograph (TSG) is used to opportunistically collect underway near-surface temperature and conductivity measurements during research and monitoring cruises. Water is continuously pumped to the TSG from an intake located in the hull of the vessel, and the observations are continuously interfaced with navigational information. A temperature sensor close to the intake provides temperature measurements of the incoming water (T1). The temperature of the water inside the conductivity cell (T2) is used to accurately compute salinity (S) from the conductivity measurements (C). Here we present the 10-second resolution processed TSG data collected, between 25 February 2020 and 04 March 2020, during Voyage 268 on the Algoa.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.15252023
Long-term observations of hourly bottom temperatures at Ystervarkpunt, South Africa

Here we present a collection of raw and processed temperatures from Underwater Temperature Recorders (UTRs) located off Ystervarkpunt, South Africa. At selected sites around Southern Africa, UTRs have been used to obtain long-term records of bottom temperatures in the nearshore environment, at depths ranging from 2m to 34m.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26500005
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Processed Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) and Total Alkalinity (TA) data from the International Indian Ocean Expedition 2 (IIOE2) cruise on SA Agulhas II Voyage 032, June 2018

This is processed Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) and Total Alkalinity (TA) data from the IIOE2 cruise on SA Agulhas II Voyage 032, between 18 June and 30 June 2018. The International Indian Ocean Expedition 2 is a collaborative regional cruise to build capacity and strength within Africa. The focus will be on developing students in the region in the areas of physical oceanography, chemistry, biological oceanography, benthic biodiversity, marine top predators and marine plastics.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052157
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected during the 2017 Marion Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas Voyage 024

The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data. Here we present 34 processed XBT casts collected along the Crossroads Transect, between 06 May 2017 and 11 May 2017, during the 2017 Marion Relief Voyage.

(No DOI)
No Download
Raw SADCP data from the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 219, October 2015

This is raw Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (SADCP) data from the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 219, 28 October to 06 November 2015. The cruise operated on the shelf and slope regions off the west coast of South Africa, between Dassen Island and Groenriviermond.This cruise was undertaken for data collection as part of a collaborative project led by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in collaboration with the Whale Unit, Mammal Research Institute of the University of Pretoria, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA), Aqualie Institute (Brazil) and Oregon State University (USA). The greater programme is titled "The ecology of Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in South Africa" and has two components, the east coast and west coast components. This cruise focused on the west coast humpback whales.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.26052101
Bottom-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) from three nearshore moorings in St Helena Bay, South Africa, Feb-Apr 2011

Concurrent nearshore measurements of current velocity from three moorings offshore of Elands Bay, within St Helena Bay, Southern Benguela, in water depths of ~22 m (mooring 3), ~50 m (mooring 2) and ~62 m (mooring 1). The data were originally presented in "Lucas, A. J., Pitcher, G. C., Probyn, T. A., & Kudela, R. M. (2014, March). The influence of diurnal winds on phytoplankton dynamics in a coastal upwelling system off south-western Africa. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography,101,50–62. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.01.016", and were further investigated in "Fearon, G., Herbette, S., Veitch, J., Cambon, G., Lucas, A. J., Lemarié, F., & Vichi, M. (2020). Enhanced vertical mixing in coastal upwelling systems driven by diurnal‐inertial resonance: Numerical experiments. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125, e2020JC016208. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016208".

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.25010014
Processed underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) observations from the SA Agulhas II Voyage 042, April 2020

A SeaBird SBE45 Thermosalinograph (TSG) is used to opportunistically collect underway near-surface temperature and conductivity measurements during research and monitoring cruises. Water is continuously pumped to the TSG from an intake located in the hull of the vessel, and the observations are continuously interfaced with navigational information. A temperature sensor close to the intake provides temperature measurements of the incoming water (T1). The temperature of the water inside the conductivity cell (T2) is used to accurately compute salinity (S) from the conductivity measurements (C). Here we present the 10-second resolution processed TSG data collected, between 21 April 2020 and 15 May 2020, during Voyage 042 on the SA Agulhas II.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052162
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected during the 2020 Marion Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas Voyage 042

The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data. Here we present 47 processed XBT casts collected along the Crossroads Transect, between 13 May 2020 and 15 May 2020, during the 2020 Marion Relief Voyage.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.53072024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the West Coast Hake Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 100, February 1992

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected between 06 February and 03 March 1992, during voyage 100 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.12652023
Cape Canyon Suspended Particulate Matter CTD water sample

The Cape Canyon, situated on the western continental shelf of South Africa, stands as the country's largest bathymetric feature. Despite its prominence, understanding of the food web dynamics within the system and the significance of the benthic community for higher trophic levels remains incomplete. In response to this knowledge gap, the DFFE: Oceans and Coasts launched a multidisciplinary expedition aboard the RV Algoa. The expedition aimed to characterise the physical environment and investigate food web connections in the vicinity of the Cape Canyon by analysing isotopic signatures in suspended particulate matter (SPM) relative to those found in benthic tissue samples. Prior to dredge operations, conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) water samples were collected at each dredge station. However, due to the inherent challenges associated with sampling in canyon systems, not all dredge operations were successful in obtaining samples, resulting in an unbalanced design where...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.31112024
Short-term observations of hourly currents on the continental shelf off Port St Johns, along the east coast of South Africa (July 2013 - December 2013)

Between 2013 and 2014, a short-term mooring deployment was conducted to determine the oceanographic characteristics and variability off Port St Johns, along the east coast of South Africa. One mooring (PJ) was deployed, at a depth of 95m, between July 2013 and September 2014. This mooring measured currents, as well as sub-surface bottom temperatures on the continental shelf off Port St Johns, on the east coast of South Africa. Here we present processed magnitude and direction of hourly currents throughout the water column (2 - 86 m) from an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) at location PJ (31.73°S; 29.51°E) on the continental shelf off Port St Johns, between July 2013 and December 2013.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.11112024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the Horse Mackerel Hydroacoustic Survey on the Africana Voyage 107, October 1992

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected, between 07 October and 23 October 1992, during voyage 107 on the FRS Africana, in the Agulhas Current Large Marine Ecosystem (ACLME) on the south coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.13422023
Processed underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) observations from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on Algoa Voyage 246, February 2018

Here we present the 6-second resolution processed Thermosalinograph (TSG) data collected between 14 February and 22 February 2018 during the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the RS Algoa Voyage 246. A SeaBird SBE45 TSG is used to opportunistically collect underway near-surface temperature and conductivity measurements during research and monitoring cruises. Water is continuously pumped to the TSG from an intake located in the hull of the vessel, and the observations are continuously interfaced with navigational information. A temperature sensor close to the intake provides temperature measurements of the incoming water (T1). The temperature of the water inside the conductivity cell (T2) is used to accurately compute salinity (S) from the conductivity measurements (C).

(No DOI)
Raw SDS data from the Marion Island Annual Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 024, April 2017

This is raw Scientific Data System (SDS) data from the Marion Island Annual Relief Voyage on the MV SA Agulhas II Voyage 024, 06 April to 12 May 2017. The 2017 Marion Relief Voyage offered the fifth opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, shipbased marine research focusing on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, chemistry, biogeochemistry and biology, including microbial, planktic and benthic communities on board South Africa’s polar research and supply vessel MV SA Agulhas II en route to, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward archipelago. The overall aim was to continue contributing to an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, in support of global requirements of inter alia the Global Oceans Observing System (GOOS), the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.09862023
Processed underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) observations from the Transkei Shelf Oceanography Cruise on the Algoa Voyage 241, July 2017

Here we present the 6-second resolution processed Thermosalinograph (TSG) data collected between 12 July 2017 and 14 August 2017 during the Transkei Shelf Oceanography Cruise on the RS Algoa Voyage 241. A SeaBird SBE45 TSG is used to opportunistically collect underway near-surface temperature and conductivity measurements during research and monitoring cruises. Water is continuously pumped to the TSG from an intake located in the hull of the vessel, and the observations are continuously interfaced with navigational information. A temperature sensor close to the intake provides temperature measurements of the incoming water (T1). The temperature of the water inside the conductivity cell (T2) is used to accurately compute salinity (S) from the conductivity measurements (C). The area covered by the Transkei Shelf Oceanography Cruise includes the Transkei shelf and continental slope (20m to 1000m), of the Eastern Cape, between Cape St Francis and Port Shepstone in the South-West Indian...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.24122022
Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the Algoa Voyage 287, November 2022

This Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) November 2022 cruise was conducted on the Algoa Voyage 287 in November 2022. This is a long-term monitoring line conducted off the coast of Kleinsee, Namaqualand, Elands/St Helena Bay and Scarborough on the west coast of South Africa. The IEP:SB in 2013 consolidated a long-term, multi-decadal time-series (from 1951 onward) of information for this important region and has continued monitoring in the form of the IEP:SB. The programme is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and capacity building platform undertaking relevant science, including updating technology, with the aim to develop ecosystem indicators that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern Benguela. These include physical, chemical, planktonic, microbial, seabird, marine mammal, benthic and pollution (plastic) ecosystem indicators as required by ecosystem-based management regarding the following priorities: ocean warming, ocean...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052223
Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the Algoa Voyage 205, February 2014

The Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela was conducted on the Algoa Voyage 205, 03 to 22 February, 2014. The Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional platform to undertake relevant science in the Southern Benguela; also functioning as a platform for collaboration and learning. All projects aim to develop an ecosystem indicator that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern Benguela i.e physical, chemical, planktonic, microbial, seabird and benthic ecosystem indicators, used for ecosystem-based management.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.13462023
Processed underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) observations from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on Algoa Voyage 248, May 2018

Here we present the 6-second resolution processed Thermosalinograph (TSG) data collected between 14 May and 20 May 2018 during the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the RS Algoa Voyage 248. A SeaBird SBE45 TSG is used to opportunistically collect underway near-surface temperature and conductivity measurements during research and monitoring cruises. Water is continuously pumped to the TSG from an intake located in the hull of the vessel, and the observations are continuously interfaced with navigational information. A temperature sensor close to the intake provides temperature measurements of the incoming water (T1). The temperature of the water inside the conductivity cell (T2) is used to accurately compute salinity (S) from the conductivity measurements (C).

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