NRDA CTD Data: Deepwater Horizon Spill Oceanographic Parameters

NRDA-processed CTD data from the R/V Bunny Bordelon Cruise 01 provides physical oceanographic parameters collected in the Gulf of Mexico from May 31 to June 2, 2010, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The dataset includes measurements of temperature, conductivity/salinity, depth, dissolved oxygen, PAR, and fluorometry. Final products are a series of processed and quality-checked NetCDF files for each CTD cast.

Use Cases

• Analyzing water column stratification based on conductivity, temperature, and depth profiles.
• Tracking dissolved oxygen anomalies potentially linked to hydrocarbon degradation.
• Guiding spatial sampling strategies for contaminants using fluorometry data.
• Modeling oil plume dispersion using physical oceanographic parameters.

Strengths

• Data is processed and quality-checked, as stated in the descriptions.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals importance and curation.
• Covers a specific, critical event (Deepwater Horizon spill) over a defined 3-day period.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row/size counts are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (2010 vs. 2026) suggest potential metadata inconsistency.
• Limited temporal scope to a single cruise leg of three days.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) casts aboard the R/V Bunny Bordelon.

Time Range

2010-05-31 to 2010-06-02

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:25:29.254174

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically Mississippi Canyon area.