Glider Physical Oceanographic Data from the Gulf of Mexico, 2016

Gulf of Mexico physical trajectory data collected by glider RU31 from January 13 to February 12, 2016. Rutgers University deployed the glider as part of the CONCORDE project to study oil spill exposure pathways. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives the data, which includes measurements of temperature, conductivity, salinity, and density.

Use Cases

• Analyze temperature and salinity time-series to identify water mass boundaries and mixing events in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Model density profiles derived from temperature and conductivity data to study water column stratification.
• Map the glider's trajectory against physical property measurements to visualize spatial gradients.
• Use conductivity and temperature data to calculate derived oceanographic parameters for coastal process studies.

Strengths

• Data covers a continuous 31-day deployment period in a specific coastal region.
• Includes four core physical oceanographic variables: temperature, conductivity, salinity, and density.
• Data underwent quality checks for file convention compliance by the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Limitations

• Dataset is limited to a single one-month deployment, providing a snapshot rather than long-term trends.
• Excludes other sensors available on the glider (oxygen, chlorophyll, back-scatter, CDOM), limiting bio-optical analysis.
• Geographic scope is restricted to the specific glider track within the Gulf of Mexico.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), sourced from the IOOS National Glider Data Assembly Center.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements collected by an autonomous underwater glider (RU31) deployed by Rutgers University.

Time Range

2016-01-13 to 2016-02-12

Freshness

Data is from 2016; not updated.

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, along the trajectory of glider RU31.