NRDA CTD Data: HOS Davis Cruise 2 in the Gulf of Mexico

From August 26 to September 2, 2010, this dataset contains Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) measurements collected aboard the R/V HOS Davis during Cruise 02. The data were gathered to determine physical oceanographic parameters and guide sampling efforts related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The final product consists of processed and quality-checked NetCDF files for each CTD cast.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical profiles of water column properties like temperature and salinity based on CTD casts.
• Modeling pollutant dispersion by correlating fluorometry data with oil spill sampling locations.
• Assessing dissolved oxygen levels to evaluate potential hypoxic conditions following the spill event.
• Calibrating remote sensing data with in-situ conductivity and temperature measurements.

Strengths

• Data is processed and quality-checked, as explicitly stated in the descriptions.
• Covers a specific, critical time period (August 26 to September 2, 2010) during the Deepwater Horizon response.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata suggests importance and validation.

Limitations

• Column names and specific data structure are not provided, hindering precise analysis.
• Conflicting last-updated dates exist (2010 vs. 2026), creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and license are missing from all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Measurements collected via shipboard CTD casts aboard the R/V HOS Davis.

Time Range

2010-08-26 to 2010-09-02

Freshness

2026-03-05 (from Data.gov, though this may be a metadata update; actual data is from 2010)

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically the Mississippi Canyon area