Delta-X Particulate Organic Carbon Concentration in Mississippi River Delta 2021

NASA's Delta-X dataset provides measurements of particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations from surface water samples collected in the Atchafalaya River and Terrebonne Basins of coastal Louisiana during 2021. Data collection occurred in spring and fall, with sampling interrupted by Hurricane Ida. Each measurement represents the mean and standard deviation from triplicate samples analyzed with a CHN analyzer.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal variation in POC concentrations between spring and fall sampling periods.
• Investigating the impact of hurricane events on water quality parameters in a major river delta.
• Modeling carbon export from river channels to open bays and the nearshore Gulf of Mexico.
• Calibrating remote sensing data with in-situ measurements of particulate organic matter.

Strengths

• Measurements are derived from triplicate samples, providing a mean and standard deviation for each site.
• Sampling covers diverse aquatic environments including narrow channels, wide channels (>100m), open bays, and nearshore Gulf sites.
• Data collection spans two distinct seasons (spring and fall) within a single year.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact sample size are unavailable from all sources.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2026-03 13 on datagov vs. 2021-09-24 on nasa_earthdata).
• The license is specified as 'other-license-specified' without detailed terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Water samples filtered through GF/F filters, with POC measured using an elemental CHN analyzer.

Time Range

2021-03-25 to 2021-09-24

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:10:03.852747

Geography

Surface waters of the Atchafalaya River and Terrebonne Basins, Mississippi River Delta, coastal Louisiana, USA.