EPOCS Pacific Ocean Current Meter Data from Moorings

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) collected this dataset of moored current meter casts in the Pacific Ocean for the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Studies (EPOCS) project. The data, processed into the NODC F015 standard format, contain time-series measurements of east-west and north-south current vector components, typically at 10-15 minute intervals, along with associated environmental parameters. The temporal coverage spans from May 1983 to May 1986.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the temporal variability of ocean current vectors (u and v components) at fixed mooring locations.
• Studying relationships between current flow, water temperature, and salinity or conductivity measurements.
• Validating hydrodynamic model outputs for the equatorial Pacific region using in-situ Eulerian current data.
• Investigating ocean climate phenomena by examining multi-year current records from the EPOCS project.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to a recognized federal standard (NODC F015 format), ensuring structural consistency.
• Measurements are high-frequency, typically reported at 10-15 minute intervals, capturing detailed temporal dynamics.
• Dataset includes ancillary environmental data such as water temperature, pressure, and conductivity or salinity.

Limitations

• A critical conflict exists in the reported time range: one source states collection from 28 May 1986 to 01 May 1983 (end before start), while another lists 1986-05-28 to 1987-05-11.
• Essential metadata is missing, including row count, specific column names, and total data volume.
• License information is not provided across any source platform.

Provenance

Source

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Data gathered via moored current meter casts using the Eulerian measurement method, processed to NODC standard F015 format.

Time Range

1983-05-01 to 1987-05-11

Freshness

Most recent metadata update was recorded on 2026-03-06, though the underlying data collection ended in the 1980s.

Geography

Pacific Ocean, specifically equatorial regions as part of the EPOCS project.