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Profiles observed by Sea-Wing underwater gliders are widely applied in scientific research. However, the quality control (QC) of these data has received little attention. The mismatch between the temperature probe… Click to show full abstract
Profiles observed by Sea-Wing underwater gliders are widely applied in scientific research. However, the quality control (QC) of these data has received little attention. The mismatch between the temperature probe and conductivity cell response times generates erroneous salinities, especially across a strong thermocline. A sensor drift may occur owing to biofouling and biocide leakage into the conductivity cell when a glider has operated for several months. It is therefore critical to design a mature real-time QC procedure and develop a toolbox for the QC of Sea-Wing glider data. On the basis of temperature and salinity profiles observed by several Sea-Wing gliders each installed with a Sea-Bird Glider Payload CTD sensor, a real-time QC method including a thermal lag correction, Argo-equivalent real-time QC tests, and a simple post-processing procedure is proposed. The method can also be adopted for Petrel gliders.