Merchant Ship Drift Data from Global Oceans 1980-1989

Six merchant ship voyages between 1980 and 1989 contributed drift buoy data for ocean current analysis. Data was collected by the German Oceanographic Data Center from vessels including the Esso Deutschland and Sidney Express. Records cover the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Thailand, and Arabian Sea.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing surface current vectors from ship drift data for specific voyages like the Esso Europa in June 1981.
• Analyzing temporal patterns of ocean circulation by comparing data across the 1980-1989 time range.
• Validating regional ocean models using geospatial data from defined areas like the Equatorial Atlantic TOGA area.
• Studying merchant ship operational logistics through voyage identifiers and ship names like 'Hamburg Express Voyage 90'.

Strengths

• Data spans a 9-year period from 1980 to 1989, providing a decadal view.
• Covers multiple distinct geographic regions including the Indian Ocean, Atlantic, and Gulf of Thailand.

Limitations

• Small sample size of only 6 documented ship voyages.
• Temporal coverage is sporadic and non-continuous, with gaps between voyages.
• Data recency is low, with the last update in August 1989.

Provenance

Source

German Oceanographic Data Center (Deutsches Ozeanographisches Datenzentrum), archived by NOAA NCEI.

Collection Method

Ship drift data collected using drifting buoys deployed from merchant vessels.

Time Range

1980-07-01 to 1989-08-07

Freshness

Data collection ended in 1989; it is a historical archive.

Geography

Indian Ocean, Equatorial Atlantic, NE Atlantic, Gulf of Thailand, Arabian Sea.