Gulf of Mexico Oceanographic and Benthic Data from the Brine Disposal Project

Moored current meter casts collected data on current direction, benthic organisms, and wind wave spectra in the Gulf of Mexico from March 25, 1977 to February 1, 1980. Texas A&M University submitted the data as part of the Brine Disposal project. The National Oceanographic Data Center processed it into standard formats F005, F132, and F191.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal patterns in current direction and speed at 10-15 minute intervals to model coastal hydrodynamics.
• Study species abundance and biomass data from benthic organism surveys to assess ecological community structure.
• Correlate wind direction, speed, and wave spectra parameters with observed ocean current data.
• Investigate relationships between environmental parameters like water temperature, salinity, and sediment characteristics with benthic organism counts and weights.

Strengths

• Data collection spans nearly three years, from March 1977 to February 1980.
• Includes multiple data types (physical, biological, meteorological) processed into three standardized NODC formats.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, sample sizes, and geographic coordinates within the Gulf of Mexico are unknown.
• Data is temporally stale, with collection ending over 40 years ago, limiting modern climate change studies.
• Potential for instrument-specific bias, as current data is principally from Aanderaa current meters.

Provenance

Source

Texas A&M University, submitted to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Field data collected via moored current meter casts and benthic sampling surveys.

Time Range

1977-03-25 to 1980-02-01

Freshness

1980-02-01

Geography

Gulf of Mexico