NRDA CTD Data: Gulf of Mexico Water Column Profiles from Deepwater Horizon Response

NRDA-processed Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) measurements were collected aboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter in the Gulf of Mexico from September 16 to 28, 2010. The dataset contains quality-checked vertical profiles of physical oceanographic parameters, including conductivity, temperature, depth, pressure, and fluorometry, to assess water column stratification. These provisional data were collected in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill event to validate environmental models.

Use Cases

• Modeling water column stratification based on conductivity, temperature, and depth profiles.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal patterns of sea water density and conductivity in the Mississippi Canyon area.
• Validating sampling depths for biological or chemical samples collected during the spill response.
• Investigating relationships between physical parameters (e.g., pressure, temperature) and fluorometry signals post-spill.

Strengths

• Data is associated with a specific, significant environmental event (Deepwater Horizon oil spill) and a defined research cruise (NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter, Cruise 1004 Leg 2).
• Covers a specific two-week time range from 2010-09-16 to 2010-09-28 in a defined geographic area (Gulf of Mexico).
• Contains multiple physical oceanographic parameters, with column names suggesting measurements for conductivity, temperature, depth, pressure, density, and fluorometry.
• Data has been processed and quality checked, as indicated in the description.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low: exact row count, file size, and specific column definitions are unknown across all sources.
• Data is explicitly noted as provisional, indicating it may not be final or fully validated.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (datagov: 2026-03-05; nasa_earthdata: 2010-09-28), creating uncertainty about data currency.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Initial CTD measurements collected aboard NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter.

Time Range

2010-09-16 to 2010-09-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:59:46.820024

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically the Mississippi Canyon area.