NRDA CTD Data: Ocean Veritas Cruise in Gulf of Mexico

Conductivity Temperature and Depth (CTD) measurements were collected aboard the R/V Ocean Veritas 04 from 2010-06-14 to 2010-06-16 to determine physical oceanographic parameters of the water column during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response. The dataset includes processed and quality-checked casts with measurements for temperature, conductivity/salinity, depth, dissolved oxygen, and fluorometry. Data are stored as a series of NetCDF files.

Use Cases

• Analyzing water column stratification based on conductivity/salinity and temperature profiles.
• Assessing dissolved oxygen levels for potential hypoxic conditions following the oil spill.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of water quality parameters like fluorometry across the Gulf of Mexico.
• Calibrating and validating oceanographic models using in-situ CTD cast data.

Strengths

• Data are processed and quality checked, as stated in the descriptions.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData suggests established curation and importance.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts: Data.gov lists a last updated date of 2026-03-05, while NASA EarthData lists 2010-06-16, creating uncertainty about data currency.
• Column names and row counts are unknown across all sources, limiting precise understanding of data structure.
• License information is not provided, restricting clarity on reuse permissions.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected onboard the R/V Ocean Veritas 04 using CTD instrumentation.

Time Range

2010-06-14 to 2010-06-16

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:49:12.971069

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, specifically the Mississippi Canyon area associated with the Deepwater Horizon event.