NEMP: Water Physics and Chemistry in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, 1980

Northwest Atlantic Ocean water column data were collected from April 21 to July 18, 1980 via moored current meters and bottle casts. The dataset, processed to the NODC F004 standard, likely contains measurements of salinity, pH, oxygen, nutrients, temperature, and current velocity components. It was submitted by the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory as part of the North East Monitoring Program (NEMP).

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal changes in nutrient concentrations based on bottle cast data.
• Modeling historical current patterns using east-west and north-south velocity components.
• Calibrating modern oceanographic models with historical temperature and salinity profiles.
• Studying the relationship between physical parameters (density, transmissivity) and chemical parameters (chlorophyll, suspended solids).

Strengths

• Data collection uses a standardized, well-documented format (NODC F004).
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot over a three-month period in 1980.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA Earthdata and Data.gov signals its importance and curation.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: column names, row count, and license are unknown.
• The dataset is historical and may not reflect current ocean conditions.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates (1980 and 2026) create uncertainty about maintenance.

Provenance

Source

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), Miami, FL.

Collection Method

Collected via moored current meter and bottle casts, processed by NODC to F004 format.

Time Range

1980-04-21 to 1980-07-18

Freshness

Last updated date conflicts: one source lists 1980-07-18, another lists 2026-04-01.

Geography

Northwest Atlantic Ocean