Oceanographic Measurements from Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response Cruise

Five days of oceanographic data were collected aboard the OCEAN VERITAS in the Gulf of Mexico from September 3 to September 7, 2010, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Subsurface Monitoring Unit, a multi-agency group, gathered chemical, physical, profile, and laboratory analysis data. These include measurements of CDOM fluorescence, volatile organic compounds, total petroleum hydrocarbons, conductivity, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and water density.

Use Cases

• Analyze Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) concentrations against salinity and temperature measurements to model pollutant dispersion.
• Correlate Volatile Organic Compounds data with CDOM fluorescence readings to assess hydrocarbon degradation and transformation.
• Use CTD-derived conductivity, hydrostatic pressure, and sound velocity profiles to characterize the water column structure post-spill.
• Map provisional laboratory analysis results for Semivolatile Organic Compounds against geographic sampling locations from cruise reports.
• Model dissolved oxygen levels against water density and temperature to evaluate potential impacts on marine ecosystems.

Strengths

• Data collected over a focused 5-day period during a critical spill response event.
• Includes multiple data types: chemical (TPH, VOCs), physical (temperature, salinity), and profile (CTD) measurements.
• Preliminary quality assurance and control procedures were applied to the CTD data by the National Coastal Data Development Center.

Limitations

• Analytical chemistry data are labeled as provisional, indicating potential unreviewed or unvalidated results.
• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical robustness.
• Data is temporally stale, collected over a single week in 2010, with no indication of ongoing updates.

Provenance

Source

Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), consisting of multiple government and corporate agencies.

Collection Method

Data collected using CTD, bottle, fluorometer, oxygen meter, and other physical sampling devices aboard the OCEAN VERITAS, with onshore laboratory analysis.

Time Range

2010-09-03 to 2010-09-07

Geography

Gulf of Mexico