Oceanographic Profiles from Deepwater Horizon Spill Response

CTD cast data captured aboard the RV Arctic in the Gulf of Mexico five months after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The Subsurface Monitoring Unit collected profiles of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and CDOM fluorescence from 2010-09-09 to 2010-09-14. NOAA's National Coastal Data Development Center performed quality assurance and control on these measurements.

Use Cases

• Correlate CDOM fluorescence measurements with salinity and temperature to trace subsurface oil plumes.
• Analyze dissolved oxygen profiles against water density to assess potential impacts on marine life post-spill.
• Use hydrostatic pressure and conductivity data to validate and calibrate regional ocean circulation models.
• Model sound velocity from temperature, salinity, and pressure data for acoustic monitoring applications.

Strengths

• Data underwent quality assurance and control procedures by the National Coastal Data Development Center.
• Includes eight distinct physical and chemical parameters per profile (e.g., temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen).
• Collected during a focused 6-day mission in direct response to a major environmental event.

Limitations

• Dataset is temporally limited to a single week in September 2010, lacking pre-spill baseline or long-term follow-up.
• Geographic scope is restricted to the specific cruise track of the RV Arctic in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Sample size (number of casts or rows) is unspecified, limiting assessment of statistical power.

Provenance

Source

Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), a consortium of government and corporate agencies, via NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

Collected from CTD casts, an oxygen meter, and a fluorometer aboard the research vessel Arctic.

Time Range

2010-09-09 to 2010-09-14

Freshness

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Geography

Gulf of Mexico