Ocean Veritas Water Chemistry and CTD Data from Deepwater Horizon Spill

This dataset captures a detailed snapshot of the marine environment in the Gulf of Mexico four months after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It contains chemical, physical, and profile data collected aboard the OCEAN VERITAS from August 25-29, 2010, by a multi-agency Subsurface Monitoring Unit. Measurements include specific volatile organic compounds, total petroleum hydrocarbons, conductivity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen, gathered using CTD, LISST, fluorometers, and laboratory analysis of water samples.

Use Cases

• Analyzing concentrations of specific volatile organic compounds (e.g., 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethylene) to trace contaminant sources.
• Correlating Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) measurements with CTD-derived salinity and temperature profiles to map oil plume behavior.
• Using CDOM fluorescence and attenuation/transmission data from the LISST and transmissometer to assess suspended solids and particulate matter.
• Modeling water density and sound velocity changes from conductivity, temperature, and pressure data for oceanographic studies.
• Validating provisional laboratory analysis results for semivolatile organic compounds against in-situ fluorometer readings.

Strengths

• Data collection targeted a major environmental event with precise temporal (5-day cruise) and spatial (Gulf of Mexico) focus.
• CTD data underwent preliminary quality assurance and control procedures at the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC).
• Includes measurements from multiple instrument types (CTD, LISST, fluorometer, oxygen meter) and onshore laboratory analysis, providing multimodal observations.
• Platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals its importance and curation for the research community.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is listed as both 2010-08 29 and 2026-03-05 across sources.
• Core quantitative details like row count, file size, and a complete column list are unavailable from all provided sources.
• Analytical chemistry data are explicitly noted as provisional, indicating they are not final validated results.

Provenance

Source

Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), consisting of multiple government and corporate agencies, collected for NOAA NCEI (NODC Accession 0069106).

Collection Method

Data gathered via shipboard instruments (CTD, LISST, transmissometer, fluorometer, oxygen meter) and physical bottle sampling for subsequent onshore laboratory analysis.

Time Range

2010-08-25 to 2010-08-29

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:49:02.215443

Geography

Gulf of Mexico