Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Oceanographic Data from R/V Brooks McCall

Oceanographic data were collected aboard the R/V Brooks McCall in the Gulf of Mexico from July 10-14, 2010, in direct response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The dataset includes chemical, physical, and profile measurements such as volatile organic compounds, total petroleum hydrocarbons, conductivity, temperature, and salinity. It was gathered by a multi-agency Subsurface Monitoring Unit and contains both instrument readings and provisional onshore laboratory analysis results.

Use Cases

• Analyzing concentrations of specific volatile organic compounds (e.g., 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethylene) to trace chemical contamination from the spill.
• Correlating total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) measurements with physical oceanographic data like salinity and temperature to model pollutant transport.
• Using conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profile data to understand the water column structure during the spill response period.
• Investigating relationships between suspended solids measurements from a LISST instrument and attenuation/transmission data to assess water clarity impacts.

Strengths

• Data collection was focused on a major environmental event, providing a direct snapshot of conditions during the Deepwater Horizon spill response.
• CTD data underwent preliminary quality assurance and control procedures at the National Coastal Data Development Center.
• Includes measurements from multiple specialized instruments (CTD, LISST, transmissometer, fluorometer, oxygen meter) and physical sampling.
• Covers a specific 5-day cruise, offering temporally concentrated observations for event-based analysis.

Limitations

• Analytical chemistry data are described as provisional, indicating they may not be final or fully validated.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, license, and a complete column list are unavailable across all platforms.
• Conflicting last update dates exist between platforms (2010-07 14 vs. 2026-04-01), creating uncertainty about data currency.

Provenance

Source

Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), consisting of multiple government and corporate agencies, collected for NOAA NCEI (Accession 0069052).

Collection Method

Data gathered via shipboard instruments (CTD, LISST, etc.) and onshore laboratory analysis of water and sediment samples.

Time Range

2010-07-10 to 2010-07-14

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:59:01.483279

Geography

Gulf of Mexico