Gulf of Mexico 1973: High-Resolution Oceanographic Profiles

February 2 to March 10, 1973, oceanographic data was collected from R/V J.M. Gilliss and R/V C. Iselin cruises I7304 and S7303 in the Gulf of Mexico. The dataset contains high-resolution CTD/STD profiles processed to the NODC F022 standard, likely reporting temperature, salinity, density, and possibly dissolved oxygen at depth intervals as fine as 1 meter. Cruise information, position, date, time, and environmental conditions are reported for each station.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical profiles of temperature and salinity for water mass identification.
• Studying continental shelf dynamics and mixing processes using high-resolution depth data.
• Reconstructing historical oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of Mexico for climate studies.
• Calibrating modern oceanographic models with historical, quality-controlled profile data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented, standard format (NODC F022).
• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles with depth intervals potentially as fine as 1 meter.
• Includes contextual station data such as position, time, and environmental conditions.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided in the available metadata.
• The NASA Earthdata entry shows a last updated date of 1973-12-08, conflicting with the Data.gov update of 2026-03-06, suggesting potential metadata inconsistency across platforms.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via CTD/STD instruments on research vessel cruises and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1973-02-02 to 1973-03-10

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:04:33.677687

Geography

Gulf of Mexico