NRDA CTD Data from Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Response

NRDA-processed CTD data from the R/V F.G. Walton Smith provides a detailed record of water column properties collected during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. The dataset includes temperature, conductivity, depth, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and fluorometry measurements from April 2011. Its processed NetCDF format and quality-checked casts support analysis of the spill's environmental impact on the Gulf of Mexico.

Use Cases

• Tracking water column stratification changes based on conductivity and temperature profiles.
• Assessing potential oil plume dispersion using fluorometry and turbidity measurements.
• Calibrating hydrodynamic models with geospatial depth and salinity data.
• Evaluating dissolved oxygen levels for impact on marine biota in the Mississippi Canyon region.

Strengths

• Data is processed and quality-checked, as stated in all platform descriptions.
• Covers a specific, critical event period from 2011-04-20 to 2011-04-30.
• Available on multiple authoritative platforms (Data.gov, NASA EarthData), indicating validation and importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: 'last updated' dates differ significantly between 2011 and 2026 across platforms.
• Column names and row counts are universally listed as 'unknown', limiting precise understanding of data structure.
• License and author information is not provided by any source.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Measurements collected via Conductivity Temperature Depth (CTD) casts aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith.

Time Range

2011-04-20 to 2011-04-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 (from Data.gov, though this conflicts with a 2011 date from NASA EarthData)

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically the Mississippi Canyon region