Massachusetts Bay Hydrophysical and Hydrochemical CTD Data, 1990-1991

Hydrophysical and hydrochemical data were collected from CTD casts in Massachusetts Bay and adjacent waters from April 1990 to June 1991. The dataset includes measurements of water depth, temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a concentration, percent light transmission, and beam attenuation. Data were gathered from the R/V Asterias and other platforms as part of the Massachusetts Bays Program.

Use Cases

• Modeling coastal water column structure based on temperature and salinity profiles.
• Analyzing phytoplankton biomass dynamics based on chlorophyll a concentrations.
• Assessing water clarity and light penetration based on percent light transmission and beam attenuation measurements.
• Studying seasonal hydrographic variability in a temperate estuary system based on the multi-year time series.

Strengths

• Data collection spans over a year, from 13 April 1990 to 18 June 1991.
• Includes multiple complementary physical and chemical variables like temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll a.
• Collected as part of a coordinated regional program (Massachusetts Bays Program).

Limitations

• Last updated 1991-06-18 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI

Collection Method

Collected from CTD casts aboard the R/V Asterias and other platforms.

Time Range

1990-04-13 to 1991-06-18

Freshness

1991-06-18 00:00:00

Geography

Massachusetts Bay, Boston Harbor, Cape Cod Bay