Gulf of Mexico Moored Current Meter and Wind Wave Data from February 1981

Moored instruments captured ocean currents, wind direction, temperature, and salinity in the Gulf of Mexico for a one-day period on February 1, 1981. The National Data Buoy Center submitted the data as part of the Brine Disposal project, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into standard F005 and F191 formats.

Use Cases

• Analyze current direction and speed time series at 10-15 minute intervals to model tidal flow patterns.
• Correlate water temperature and salinity measurements with current meter data to study brine dispersion.
• Use wind direction and speed records alongside wave spectra data to assess local meteorological forcing.
• Evaluate sensor depth and water depth per station to understand vertical current profile structure.

Strengths

• Data conforms to two established NODC standard formats: F005 for currents and F191 for wind/wave spectra.
• Records include multiple environmental parameters per measurement: currents, temperature, salinity, wind, and waves.
• Each data submission receives a unique NODC identifier for traceability.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is extremely limited, containing data from only one specific day.
• Specific row counts, column details, and sample sizes are not provided in the description.
• Data originates from 1981 and may not reflect current oceanographic conditions.

Provenance

Source

National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), submitted to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Collection Method

Collected using moored current meter casts, representing Eulerian fixed-point flow measurement.

Time Range

February 1, 1981 to February 1, 1981.

Geography

Gulf of Mexico.