Gulf of Mexico HF Radar Ocean Current Data with QARTOD Quality Flags

HF radar measurements provide surface ocean current velocities in the Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida. The dataset includes radial velocity components and diagnostic data formatted in Columnar Table Format (CTF), with quality flags from six standardized QARTOD tests applied to each measurement. Data is processed by the Center for Ocean Observing Leadership at Rutgers University from raw spectra collected by UGOS operators and submitted to NCEI semi-annually.

Use Cases

• Assimilating Eastward (u) and Northward (v) surface current components into ocean circulation models.
• Validating hydrodynamic model outputs against observed radial velocity measurements.
• Analyzing the evolution of the Loop Current System using spatially and temporally resolved current data.
• Applying QARTOD quality control flags (e.g., PRIM, Spatial Median Filter) for data filtering in research.

Strengths

• Data undergoes six specific QARTOD quality tests (Tests 6,7,8,9,10,12) following a standardized manual (Version 1.0).
• Provides a primary quality flag (PRIM) representing the highest flag value from all executed tests for each data point.
• Covers a strategic oceanographic region (Gulf of Mexico and Straits of Florida) critical for current system studies.

Limitations

• Conflicting last update dates exist across platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs 2020-06-02 on NASA Earthdata), creating uncertainty about recent updates.
• Core metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license information are unavailable from all sources.

Provenance

Source

Center for Ocean Observing Leadership at Rutgers University, assembling data from UGOS HF radar operators.

Collection Method

Raw HF radar cross spectra are post-processed into radial ocean current data in CTF format.

Time Range

2019-12 28 to 2022-06-03

Freshness

2026-03-05

Geography

Straits of Florida and Gulf of Mexico.