A Moored Array Observation Dataset for Air-Sea·Surface and Ocean in the Northern South China Sea during 2014–2015 (MASCS 1.0)

This study reports a moored array dataset (MASCS 1.0) consisting of five buoys and four moorings in the northern South China Sea during 2014–2015. The dataset includes measurements of sea surface meteorological data using two sets of instruments, sea surface waves measured by a wave recorder, temperature and salinity from the surface to a depth of 400 m, and at 10 m and 50 m above the ocean bottom by conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) recorders. It also includes currents from the surface to a depth of 850 m measured by acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) and at 10 m, 50 m, and 100 m above the floor measured by current meters. Additional measurements were taken for sea surface radiation, air visibility, chlorophyll, turbidity and chromophoric dissolved organic matter at Buoy 3, which was located at the center of the moored array. The data reveals air-sea interactions and oceanic processes in the upper and bottom ocean, especially the transition of air-sea interface and ocean conditions from summer to winter monsoon along with the effects of six tropical cyclones on the moored array. The multiscale processes such as air-sea fluxes, tides, internal waves and low-frequency flows were also recorded. The data is valuable and has multiple potential applications, including analysis of the phenomena and mechanisms of air-sea interactions and ocean dynamics, as well as validation and improvement of numerical model simulations, data reanalysis and assimilations.