Hydrographic Casts from Exuma Sound Circulation Studies

Exuma Sound, Bahamas, is the focus of this hydrographic dataset from a 1990s physical oceanography project. The data, collected via CTD casts, moorings, and drifters, aimed to understand surface circulation's effect on larval recruitment. The project was led by Dr. Barbara Hickey of the University of Washington and supported by the Caribbean Marine Research Center under NOAA.

Use Cases

• Modeling surface circulation patterns based on CTD-derived temperature and salinity profiles.
• Analyzing larval transport and recruitment dynamics in relation to measured oceanographic conditions.
• Studying water column structure and variability in Exuma Sound from time-series mooring data.
• Validating regional oceanographic models with in-situ hydrographic measurements.

Strengths

• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata signals its importance and curation.
• Data collection employed multiple methods, including CTD casts, mooring deployments, and drifter-tracking.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: row count, column names, file size, and license are unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last update date: one platform lists 1995-08-31, while another lists 2026-03-06, suggesting potential metadata errors.
• The dataset's age (collected 1993-1995) may limit its utility for studying contemporary oceanographic changes.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Field measurements including CTD casts, mooring deployments, and drifter-tracking from R/V Sea Diver and R/V Edwin Link.

Time Range

1993-1995

Freshness

1995-08-31 00:00:00

Geography

Exuma Sound, Bahamas