Oceanographic Profile Data from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response

Near-realtime oceanographic profile data collected from April 22 to July 24, 2010 in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The dataset contains temperature and salinity profiles from ships and aircraft, transmitted via the Global Telecommunication System and processed by the Global Temperature and Salinity Profile Programme (GTSPP). Data is provided by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Use Cases

• Modeling the vertical distribution of temperature and salinity to assess water column stratification changes post-spill.
• Analyzing spatial-temporal patterns of oceanographic conditions from ship and aircraft profile data across the Gulf of Mexico.
• Correlating in-situ temperature/salinity measurements with satellite-derived data for validation studies.
• Tracking the evolution of the marine environment over the 3-month event period using time-series profile data.

Strengths

• Data covers a critical 3-month period (April 22 to July 24, 2010) during a major environmental event.
• Profiles are sourced from multiple platforms (ships, aircraft) via a standardized global telecommunication system.
• Data is available in multiple standard formats (CSV, NetCDF, GTSPP ASCII) with supporting inventory and visualization files.

Limitations

• The dataset is static, representing a specific historical event with no ongoing updates.
• The exact number of profiles, rows, and specific measurement columns are unknown from the provided metadata.
• Data is geographically focused on the Gulf of Mexico, limiting broader oceanographic applicability.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), via the Global Temperature and Salinity Profile Programme (GTSPP).

Collection Method

Collected as BATHY and TESAC messages from ships and aircraft via the Global Telecommunication System (GTS).

Time Range

2010-04-22 to 2010-07-24

Freshness

null

Geography

Gulf of Mexico