North Carolina Coastal Drifter and Current Meter Data 1992-1993

NODC Accession 9300089 contains ocean current and drifter data collected from fixed platforms offshore North Carolina. Science Applications, Inc. gathered these observations from February 22, 1992, to February 18, 1993, for the Physical Oceanography Field Program. The data were processed into the NODC standard F156 format for time-series analysis of ocean circulation.

Use Cases

• Analyzing coastal circulation patterns by computing directions and speeds between drifter observations.
• Studying mass transport in near-shore regions using point-to-point geographic location data.
• Correlating ocean current data with other reported parameters like water temperature, salinity, or wind.
• Investigating ice movement dynamics in applicable regions using the same F156 format structure.

Strengths

• Data covers a defined one-year time series from February 1992 to February 1993.
• Processed to a documented standard (NODC F156 format) with a publicly available description.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting format codes are cited: one source mentions F015, while others specify F156.
• The most recent update date conflicts between platforms (2026 vs. 1993), suggesting metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

Science Applications, Inc. (SAI) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Collection Method

Data collected from fixed platforms, with drifter tracking via shore-based, ship, aircraft, or satellite observations.

Time Range

1992-02-22 to 1993-02-18

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:23:20.220606

Geography

Offshore North Carolina, USA.