Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Ocean Sci. Discuss., 9, 1273–1312, 2012 www.ocean-sci-discuss.net/9/1273/2012/ Ocean Science doi:10.5194/osd-9-1273-2012 Discussions © Author(s) 2012. CC Attribution 3.0 License. This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Ocean Science (OS). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in OS if available. The CORA dataset: validation and diagnostics of ocean temperature and salinity in situ measurements C. Cabanes1, A. Grouazel1, K. von Schuckmann2, M. Hamon3, V. Turpin4, C. Coatanoan4, S. Guinehut5, C. Boone5, N. Ferry6, G. Reverdin2, S. Pouliquen3, and P.-Y. Le Traon3 1Division technique de l’INSU, UPS855, CNRS, Plouzane,´ France 2CNRS, LOCEAN, Paris, France 3Laboratoire d’Oceanographie´ Spatiale, IFREMER, Plouzane,´ France 4SISMER, IFREMER, Plouzane,´ France 5CLS-Space Oceanography Division, Ramonville Saint-Agne, France 6MERCATOR OCEAN, Ramonville St Agne, France Received: 1 March 2012 – Accepted: 8 March 2012 – Published: 21 March 2012 Correspondence to: C. Cabanes (
[email protected]) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 1273 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Abstract The French program Coriolis as part of the French oceanographic operational sys- tem produces the COriolis dataset for Re-Analysis (CORA) on a yearly basis which is based on temperature and salinity measurements on observed levels from different 5 data types. The latest release of CORA covers the period 1990 to 2010. To qualify this dataset, several tests have been developed to improve in a homogeneous way the quality of the raw dataset and to fit the level required by the physical ocean re-analysis activities (assimilation and validation).