Brine Disposal Project Marine Ecosystem Measurements in Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico data includes current direction, speed, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic organisms, and fish/shellfish records from February 17, 1981 to June 22, 1982. Measurements were collected via moored current meter casts and other instruments by Texas A&M University for the Brine Disposal project. Data were processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into standard formats.

Use Cases

• Analyze current direction and speed time-series data to model coastal circulation patterns.
• Correlate phytoplankton species counts and concentrations with concurrent water temperature and salinity measurements.
• Study zooplankton distribution and abundance relative to sampling depth and volume of water filtered.
• Examine benthic organism data alongside bottom depth and gear type information from trawl surveys.
• Investigate fish and shellfish catch statistics, such as weight and number per unit volume, in relation to meteorological conditions reported.

Strengths

• Data spans over 16 months from February 1981 to June 1982.
• Includes multiple biological and physical parameters processed into 5 distinct NODC standard formats.
• Provides detailed metadata for each measurement type, including sensor depth, sampling depths, and gear characteristics.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and sample sizes are unknown.
• Data is from a single project over 40 years ago, limiting contemporary relevance.
• The description indicates data values may be subject to averaging or filtering, which could obscure raw measurements.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Accession 8200230.

Collection Method

Data collected using moored current meter casts and other sampling instruments, submitted by Texas A&M University.

Time Range

1981-02-17 to 1982-06-22

Freshness

null

Geography

Gulf of Mexico