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

Moored current meter casts collected current direction, salinity, and wind wave spectra data in the Gulf of Mexico from June 28, 1978 to February 28, 1979. Texas A&M University submitted the data as part of the Brine Disposal project, and NOAA NCEI processed it into standard F005 and F191 formats.

Use Cases

• Analyze current direction and speed time series at 10-15 minute intervals to model coastal circulation patterns.
• Correlate salinity and water temperature data with current measurements to study brine plume dispersion.
• Use wind direction and speed measurements alongside dominant wave height and period to assess wind-wave interactions.
• Validate hydrodynamic models using the reported sensor depth, water depth, and station position data.
• Process the F191 format wave spectra records to study wave frequency, density, and resolution over time.

Strengths

• Data spans a continuous 8-month period from June 1978 to February 1979.
• Records include multiple environmental parameters: current speed/direction, salinity, temperature, wind, and wave spectra.
• Data is processed into standardized NOAA NCEI formats (F005 and F191), ensuring structural consistency.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, collected over 45 years ago (1978-1979), limiting relevance to current conditions.
• Specific sample size (row count), geographic precision, and sensor accuracy metrics are unknown.
• The description indicates data may be subject to averaging or filtering, introducing potential processing artifacts.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI

Collection Method

Moored current meter casts deployed at fixed points, measuring flow past the sensor.

Time Range

1978-06-28 to 1979-02-28

Geography

Gulf of Mexico