Deepwater Horizon CTD Oceanographic Data from NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson collected Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) measurements in the Gulf of Mexico during Cruise 03, Leg 1 from June 6 to June 26, 2010. This dataset provides processed physical oceanographic parameters, including dissolved oxygen and fluorometry, to support the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. The final product consists of quality-checked NetCDF files for each CTD cast.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical profiles of temperature, conductivity, and salinity to understand water column structure.
• Correlating fluorometry data with other samples to assess phytoplankton response or oil dispersion.
• Mapping dissolved oxygen levels to evaluate potential hypoxic conditions following the spill.
• Using geospatial coordinates (latitude, longitude) to plot sampling locations and oceanographic features in the Mississippi Canyon area.
• Studying sea water density and electrical conductivity changes related to the oil spill event.

Strengths

• Data is processed and quality-checked, as stated across all platform descriptions.
• Provides a specific time range of collection from 2010-06-06 to 2010-06-26.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Core metadata conflicts: last updated date is listed as 2026-04-01 on Data.gov but 2010-06-26 on NASA EarthData.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and a complete column list are unavailable from the provided sources.
• License information is not provided.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Measurements collected via CTD casts aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson.

Time Range

2010-06-06 to 2010-06-26

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:21:02.329874

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically the Mississippi Canyon area.