1. How to handle multiple vertical references
For a profile with different vertical axes, we propose that:
The DAC use the N_PROF dimension in the NetCDF variables to record the different vertical axes.
To describe each vertical axes :
1. In the profile file add : Char VERTICAL_SAMPLING_SCHEME(N_PROF, STRING256) Vertical_sampling_scheme contains standardized name :
"Argo CTD sampling"
"Non pump sea surface temperature"
"Non pump near surface CTD"
"Low resolution oxygen sampling"
2 : In the metadata file : Add the dimension N_PROF to : char SENSOR(N_PROF,N_PARAM,STRING16); SENSOR:long_name = "List of sensors on the float "; SENSOR:conventions = "Argo reference table 3"; SENSOR:_FillValue = " ";
And also to : SENSOR_MAKER, SENSOR_MODEL…, SENSOR_RESOLUTION

2. How to handle multiple vertical references
For multiprofile files available from GDAC :
They will only contain the "Argo CTD sampling" dimension.
The variable "Vertical_sampling_scheme" will not appear in the GDAC multi-profile files.