Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Oceanographic Data from the Gulf of Mexico, June 2010

Oceanographic data were collected aboard the Ridley Thomas in the Gulf of Mexico from June 26 to June 29, 2010, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill event on April 20, 2010. The Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), a consortium of government and corporate agencies, gathered the data, which includes unknown data types and instruments. The dataset also contains products created for real-time analysis, such as charts, graphs, maps, and GIS files, along with cruise-level documentation.

Use Cases

• Modeling oil plume dispersion based on oceanographic measurements mentioned in the description
• Creating geospatial visualizations for decision support based on the maps and GIS files described
• Analyzing the temporal progression of the spill's subsurface impact based on the four-day sampling period
• Integrating multi-agency monitoring data for a comprehensive environmental assessment based on the SMU consortium

Strengths

• Data was collected during a critical four-day period (2010-06 26 to 2010-06-29) following a major environmental event
• Includes products like charts, graphs, and maps designed for real-time analysis and decision support
• Contains supplementary cruise-level documentation such as reports, plans, videos, and pictures

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• The specific data types and instruments used are listed as unknown

Provenance

Source

Subsurface Monitoring Unit (SMU), via NOAA NCEI

Collection Method

Collected aboard the vessel Ridley Thomas using unknown instruments and physical sampling devices

Time Range

2010-06-26 to 2010-06-29

Freshness

Last updated 2010-06-29 00:00:00; freshness should be verified

Geography

Gulf of Mexico