Southern Coastal Plains Expedition Current Meter Data 1972-1973

Current direction and speed measurements were collected from fixed platforms at 10-15 minute intervals. The dataset covers the period from February 13, 1972, to April 24, 1973, in support of the Southern Coastal Plains Expedition. Data were collected by the National Ocean Service and processed by NODC to the F005 standard format.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal patterns in current direction and speed for coastal circulation modeling.
• Correlate water temperature and salinity data with current measurements to study density-driven flows.
• Investigate relationships between reported wind direction/speed and surface current responses.
• Use sensor depth and water depth fields to profile vertical current structure at mooring stations.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with measurements reported at 10-15 minute intervals.
• Data collection spans over 14 months from February 1972 to April 1973.
• Includes multiple environmental parameters like temperature, salinity, and wind data alongside primary current metrics.

Limitations

• Exact row count, geographic coordinates, and sample size are unknown.
• Data is over 50 years old, which may limit relevance for contemporary climate studies.
• The specific set of reported auxiliary parameters (e.g., wave data) may vary per station.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from the National Ocean Service.

Collection Method

Data collected from moored current-measuring instruments (e.g., Aanderaa meters) at fixed platforms using the Eulerian method.

Time Range

1972-02-13 to 1973-04-24

Freshness

null

Geography

Southern Coastal Plains region (specific coordinates unknown).