Gulf of Mexico Current Meter and Wave Spectra Data from 1978-1979

NOAA_NCEI Accession 7900144 contains oceanographic data collected via moored current meter casts in the Gulf of Mexico from February 2, 1978 to January 31, 1979. Texas A&M University submitted the data as part of the Brine Disposal project, processed by NODC into standard formats F005, F123, and F191. The dataset includes time series measurements of current direction, speed, salinity, wind parameters, and wave spectra.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal current patterns using time series of current direction and speed at 10-15 minute intervals.
• Analyzing relationships between environmental parameters like water temperature, salinity, and wind direction.
• Studying wave energy and spectra from reported dominant wave direction, height, and period.
• Investigating marine fish and shellfish distribution using catch statistics and biological characteristics from F123 format.
• Correlating meteorological conditions like pressure and solar radiation with ocean surface wave data.

Strengths

• Data processed into three established NODC standard formats (F005, F123, F191) ensuring structural consistency.
• Time series measurements reported at frequent intervals (typically 10-15 minutes) for detailed temporal analysis.
• Includes multiple environmental parameters per record, such as salinity, conductivity, temperature, and wind speed.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single year (1978-1979), providing a narrow snapshot.
• Specific row counts, column names, and dataset size are unknown, hindering precise assessment of scope.
• Data is over 40 years old, which may limit relevance for contemporary climate or current modeling.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information), submitted by Texas A&M University.

Collection Method

Data collected using moored current meter casts (Eulerian method) and field sampling of marine fish/shellfish.

Time Range

1978-02-02 to 1979-01-31

Geography

Gulf of Mexico