Delta-X Water Quality Measurements in Atchafalaya and Terrebonne Basins, 2021

March to September 2021 in situ water quality data from the Atchafalaya River and Terrebonne Basins in Louisiana, USA. The dataset contains surface measurements of temperature, salinity, turbidity, and chlorophyll-a fluorescence collected during the NASA Delta-X project's Spring and Fall field campaigns. Sampling was interrupted by Hurricane Ida, providing a record of conditions before and after a major storm event.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal changes in water temperature and salinity across river channels, bays, and the nearshore Gulf of Mexico.
• Calibrating remote sensing data for turbidity and chlorophyll-a using in-situ fluorescence (RFU) and turbidity (FNU) measurements.
• Assessing the potential impact of Hurricane Ida on water quality parameters by comparing pre- and post-storm data from August and September 2021.
• Studying the relationship between physical parameters (temperature, salinity) and biological indicators (chlorophyll-a) in a deltaic environment.

Strengths

• Data covers two distinct seasonal campaigns (Spring and Fall 2021) across a wide spatial range of channels, bays, lakes, and nearshore waters.
• Measurements were collected using calibrated YSI ProDSS and EXO3 water quality probes, ensuring standardized in-situ data collection.
• The dataset captures a unique temporal event, with sampling paused and resumed around Hurricane Ida's landfall, allowing for storm impact analysis.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided on any platform.
• Platforms conflict on the last update date: NASA Earthdata lists 2021 09 24, while Data.gov lists 2026 03 13, creating uncertainty about versioning.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without providing the specific license terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Delta-X project.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected from surface waters using YSI ProDSS and YSI EXO3 water quality probes.

Time Range

2021-03-25 to 2021-09-24

Freshness

2026-03 13 03:10:19.250531

Geography

Atchafalaya River and Terrebonne Basins, Louisiana, USA, including nearshore Gulf of Mexico locations.