Abstract:

This dataset reports CTD profiles at ten stations collected aboard R/V F.G. Walton Smith cruise WS17121 in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico from 2017-05-02 to 2017-05-07. A profiling rosette was deployed to measure continuous biogeochemical and physical ocean structure and collect discrete water samples to measure the initial conditions during the deployment of EM-APEX floats. The expedition objectives were to deploy ten EM-APEX floats near the Deepwater Horizon plume area. The dataset contains 19 cast, almost two per station. The spatial extent is provided for the 19 casts because the coordinates are slightly different. Samples were taken along two transect lines, with one line intersecting the former position of the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. Station 0 was a test station and get a starting set of CTD casts. No EM-APEX float was deployed at Station 0. While the Station 7 EM-APEX float was deployed, the accompanying Station 7 CTDs were skipped due to weather in the area during sampling. Most stations had two CTD casts each to be able to collect enough sample water, except Station 3 which had one cast because of close proximity to station 4.

Suggested Citation:

Shay, Lynn; Fennel, Katja; Jaimes, Benjamin; Brewster, Jodi; Gordon, Chris; Rastin, Shannah; Rudzin, Johna; Hiron, Luna; Wadler, Josh; Ring, Cassidy; Kiser, Brittany. 2018. Conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) data collected from R/V F.G. Walton Smith cruise WS17121 in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico from 2017-05-02 to 2017-05-07. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7NZ8682

Publications:

Gordon, C., Fennel, K., Richards, C., Shay, L. K., & Brewster, J. K. (2020). Can ocean community production and respiration be determined by measuring high-frequency oxygen profiles from autonomous floats? Biogeosciences, 17(15), 4119–4134. doi:10.5194/bg-17-4119-2020

Purpose:

CTD stations were conducted to collect initial conditions to compare to EM-APEX floats deployed at the same time and measure the physical and biogeochemical conditions in the sampling area of the Deepwater Horizon and DeSoto Canyon.

Data Parameters and Units:

Latitude [deg], longitude [deg], depth[m], temperature [deg C], salinity [psu], fluorescence [ug/l], beam attenuation [1/m], dissolved oxygen [mg/l], PAR [umol m^-2 s^-1]

Methods:

At each station, a profiling EM-APEX float was deployed. Subsequently, two CTD casts were performed at the same location to collect profiling data and water samples to be analyzed in the lab.

Instruments:

CTD - SBE 9 Oxygen - SBE 43 PAR- Biospherical Licor Fluorescence - Seapoint Beam Attenuation - Chelsea/Seatech

Individual Files: