This data set contains the CTD data collected by the Stazione Oceanografica of CNR (Italy) from RV URANIA during eight oceanographic campaigns (Table 1). These cruises were part of an intensive field program in the Sicily Channel and in the southern Tyrrhenian basin conducted within the MATER project, funded under FP4-MAS3 (Grant agreement ID: MAS3960051). Data have been used in several studies (see Related documents).Table1Cruise name       Date (from – to)                                        MATER0              6 March 1996 - 19 March 1996                      MATER1              16 September 1996 - 3 October 1996           MATER2              14 January 1997 - 30 January 1997             MATER3              1 October 1997 - 21 October 1997               MATER4              28 April 1998 - 12 May 1998                       MATER5              14 October 1998 - 27 October 1998             MATER6              14 May 1999 - 30 May 1999                        MATER7              15 November - 1999 26 November 1999     839 CTD profiles were collected using a Neil-Brown MKIII CTD and profiles in stations 620, 621, 622 of MATER6 were collected with a Seabird 911plus probe. The probes were calibrated in temperature and conductivity at the SACLANT Center of La Spezia, before and after each cruise, and at sea in salinity, against water samples. Declared instrumental precisions were 0.002 °C for temperature and 0.005 for salinity (PSS-78). The data set is provided per cruise as ODV Spreadsheet files in TXT format, containing: - Cruise name - Station number - Type of acquisition (here C for CTD) - Date in mon/day/yr and Time in hh:mm:ss - Coordinates in Longitude [degrees_east] and Latitude [degrees_north] - Bottom depth [m] - Depth, salt water [m] - Temperature, IPTS-68 [degC] - Temperature, ITS-90 [degC] - Salinity, PSS-78 (Practical Salinity)

The principal aim of the Tyrrhenian Eddy Multi-Platform Observations (TEMPO) experiment  (1989-1993) was to study the signature of a mesoscale oceanographic eddy in the north Tyrrhenian Sea, between Italy, Corsica and Sardinia, using space-borne and airborne remote sensing and ship-based measuring techniques, but an effort was made to extend the observations in the southern part of the Tyrrhenian sea and throughout the water column. The data contained in this dataset concerns the cruises TEMPO-3 (from 25 October to 8 November 1991, 44 stations), TEMPO-4 (from 23 April to 4 May 1992, 41 stations), and TEMPO-5 (from 8 to 13 March 1993, 71 stations).CTD profiles were collected using a Neil-Brown MK III CTD probe with a sampling time of 33 ms and a CTD fall speed of about 1 m/s. The temperature, conductivity and pressure sensors were calibrated at the SACLANT Centre in La Spezia before the cruise and again checked after its conclusion. Water samples were collected for the on-board calibration of the probe values. The final accuracies for the temperature and salinity were0.005 °C and 0.005, respectively. Successively the data were interpolated over 1 dbar interval.The data set is provided per cruise as ODV Spreadsheet files in TXT format, containing: - Cruise name - Station number - Type of acquisition (here C) - Date in mon/day/yr and Time in hh:mm:ss - Coordinates in Longitude [degrees_east] and Latitude [degrees_north] - Bottom depth [m] - Depth [m] - Temperature_IPTS-68 [deg C] - Conductivity [S/m] - Temperature_ITS-90 [deg C] - Salinity_PSS-78 (Practical Salinity) - Dissolved Oxygen [ml/l]

This data set contains the CTD data collected from the RV URANIA of the CNR (Italy) during the PRIMO-94 and PRIMO-94B cruises (20-29 May 1994 and 5-18 October 1994). These cruises were part of an intensive field program in the Sicily Channel and in the southern Tyrrhenian basin conducted by the Stazione Oceanografica of CNR in different periods from 1993 to 1995. Data have been used in several studies (see References).CTD profiles were collected using a Neil-Brown MKIII CTD. The probe was calibrated in temperature and conductivity at the SACLANT Center of La Spezia, before and after each cruise, and at sea in salinity and oxygen, against  water samples. Declared instrumental precisions were 0.002 °C for temperature and 0.005 for salinity (PSS-78). The data set is provided per cruise as ODV Spreadsheet files in TXT format, containing:• Cruise name• Station number• Type of acquisition (here C)• Date in mon/day/yr and Time in hh:mm:ss• Coordinates in Longitude [degrees_east] and Latitude [degrees_north]• Bottom depth [m]• Depth, salt water [m]• Temperature, IPTS-68 [degC]• Conductivity [S/m]• Temperature, ITS-90 [degC]• Salinity, PSS-78 (Practical Salinity)• Dissolved oxygen [ml/l]

This data set contains the CTD data collected from the RV URANIA of the CNR (Italy) during the SICILY-1 and SICILY-2 cruises (8-11 March 1995 and 16-30 July 1995). These cruises were part of an intensive field program in the Sicily Channel and in the southern Tyrrhenian basin conducted by the Stazione Oceanografica of CNR in different periods from 1993 to 1995. The SICILY-2 cruise also includes stations along a section from Menorca (Balearic Islands) to Sardinia. Data have been used in several studies (see References).CTD profiles were collected using a Neil-Brown MKIII CTD. The probe was calibrated in temperature and conductivity at the SACLANT Center of La Spezia, before and after each cruise, and at sea in salinity and oxygen, against  water samples. Declared instrumental precisions were 0.002 °C for temperature and 0.005 for salinity (PSS-78). The data set is provided per cruise as ODV Spreadsheet files in TXT format, containing:• Cruise name• Station number• Type of acquisition (here C)• Date in mon/day/yr and Time in hh:mm:ss• Coordinates in Longitude [degrees_east] and Latitude [degrees_north]• Bottom depth [m]• Depth, salt water [m]• Temperature, IPTS-68 [degC]• Conductivity [S/m]• Temperature, ITS-90 [degC]• Salinity, PSS-78 (Practical Salinity)The dataset relating to SICILY-1 cruise also contains• Dissolved oxygen [ml/l]

This data set contains the CTD data collected from the RV URANIA of the CNR (Italy) during the PRIMO93 cruise, from 8 to 23 November 1993, which was part of an intensive field program in the Sicily Channel and in the southern Tyrrhenian basin conducted by the Stazione Oceanografica of CNR in different periods from 1993 to 1995. It was used, in particular, for a study on the dynamics and mixing of the Eastern Mediterranean outflow in the Tyrrhenian basin (Sparnocchia et al., 1999).The full-depth CTD profiles were performed using a Neil-Brown MKIIIb CTD, subjected to pre-cruise and post-cruise calibrations at the SACLANT Center of La Spezia. Furthermore, the salinity calibration was also carried out on board collecting water samples at standard depths, which were analyzed with an Autosal Guildline salinometer.The estimated precisions were 0.0058 °C for temperature and 0.002 for salinity.The data set is provided as an ODV Collection, which contains, for each station the following parameters:Depth [m]Temperature_IPTS-68 [deg C]Conductivity [mS/cm]Temperature_ITS-90 [deg C]Salinity_PSS-78 (Practical Salinity)

Hydrological data have been collected during 7 oceanographic cruises, named medgoos, organized in the Sardinia Sea and in the Sardinia Channel between May 2000 and January 2004 (table 1) by the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). Tab.1 The 61,30 meters long R/V Urania of CNR was used during all cruises. Data of conductivity, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and Chlorophyll-a fluorescence (Chl-a) were acquired by a SBE911 plus CTD probe (Sea-Bird Inc.) equipped with a 24 Niskin bottle rosette for water column samples collection. The CTD data were quality checked and processed by Seasoft software. Then salinity was checked against the on-board analyses of water samples by a Guildline-Autosal salinometer. The same for DO data checked against Winkler titration analyses. Chl-a data were not calibrated, so they are reported as Relative Fluorescence Units. During cruises from medgoos4 to medgoos7 acquired temperature data were checked at defined depths against inverted thermometers installed in correspondence of the Niskin bottles number 1, 3, 5, 7 of the rosette sampler. Pre-cruise and post-cruise calibrations of the sensors were performed at the SACLANT Center (now NATO-CMRE) of La Spezia (Italy). Redundant sensors were often used for both temperature and salinity measurements, apart during the medgoos1 and medgoos2 cruises. The vessel was positioned using an integrated navigation system consisting of two DGPS antennas managed by Andrews Hydrographics software installed on HP 386, 33 MHz PCs. The data set is provided per cruise as ODV Spreadsheet files in TXT format: - Cruise name - Station number - Type of acquisition (here C) - Date in mon/day/yr and Time in hh:mm - Coordinates in Longitude [degrees_east] and Latitude [degrees_north] - Bot. Depth [m] - Ship name - Pressure, Digiquartz [db] - Conductivity [mS/cm] - Fluorescence, Seatech - Temperature [deg C]; IPTS-68 in medgoos1; ITS-68 in medgoos2, 6; ITS-90 in medgoos3, 4, 5, 7 - Oxygen, Beckman/YSI , WS = 3 [ml/l] - Depth [salt water, m] - Practical Salinity from Conductivity [PSS-78]

This time series has been collected by the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in a station located at about 3500 m depth in the central Tyrrhenian Sea (39° 46.85 N, 011° 53.00 E) over the period 2003-2016. The dataset contains 21 hydrological profiles (Pressure (dbar), Temperature (ITS-90, °C) and Salinity) performed on average every six months, with a lack of data in the period 2007-2010. The dataset is highly homogeneous in technical characteristics and quality, since the instrument used to collect most of the data is the same CTD probe (SBE911plus) and data quality procedures have been performed. The calibration of the probe was performed at the NATO-CMRE Centre of La Spezia up to 2014, and by the manufacturer (SeaBird) or by the Oceanographic Calibration Center of OGS in Trieste thereafter. To verify the post calibration performance of the probe, redundant sensors were often used for both temperature and salinity measurements, and on board salinity analysis of the water samples was performed using a Guideline Autosal or a Portasal salinometer. Raw data are post-processed and averaged at 1 dbar. Until 2014, the data were collected by the Italian R/V URANIA, those of 2015 by the Italian R/V MINERVA UNO, and those of 2016 by the Spanish R/V Angeles Alvarino. This is the longest time series (fourteen years) of temperature and salinity of thermohaline staircases due to double diffusion in the salt finger regime ever observed. Parameters included in the .csv data file: - Cruise name (Cruise) - Time as julian days (Time_julian day) - Latitude - Longitude - Pressure in dbar (Pressure_dbar) - Practical Salinity (Salinity) - Temperature ITS-90 in °C (Temperature_ITS-90_°C)