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Ocean currents, temperatures, and others measured by drifters and profiling floats for the Lagrangian Approach to Study the Gulf of Mexico’s Deep Circulation project 2011-07 to 2015-06 (NCEI Accession 0159562)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 02:55 AM | Dataset Last Updated: October 24, 2017 at 12:00 AM
This dataset contains biological and physical oceanographic data from multiple instrumental packages. The data acquisition had two main elements: 1) a deep drifter study employing RAFOS floats and sound sources, which provided Lagrangian drifter tracks at 1500 and 2500 m nominal depth in the Gulf of Mexico; and 2) a profiling float study employing APEX floats, similar to the US Argo program, where CTD profiles are obtained at regularly spaced time intervals from freely drifting floats. The APEX profiling floats were additionally equipped with WetLabs optical sensors that measured chlorophyll, particle backscatter, and colored dissolved organic mater (CDOM) through the water column from the surface to 1500 m, and RAFOS acoustic receivers. The latter were used to monitor the four sound sources, and provide additional trajectories at 1500 m (the rest depth of the floats). The program was supported with remote sensing (sea-surface temperature and ocean color), and altimetry for mapping sea surface height (remote sensing data is not included on the DVD). Data files are in NetCDF and text formats.

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0159562 CHLOROPHYLL A Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) SALINITY turbidity WATER TEMPERATURE CTD profiling float

Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
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  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:ncei.info@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description This dataset contains biological and physical oceanographic data from multiple instrumental packages. The data acquisition had two main elements: 1) a deep drifter study employing RAFOS floats and sound sources, which provided Lagrangian drifter tracks at 1500 and 2500 m nominal depth in the Gulf of Mexico; and 2) a profiling float study employing APEX floats, similar to the US Argo program, where CTD profiles are obtained at regularly spaced time intervals from freely drifting floats. The APEX profiling floats were additionally equipped with WetLabs optical sensors that measured chlorophyll, particle backscatter, and colored dissolved organic mater (CDOM) through the water column from the surface to 1500 m, and RAFOS acoustic receivers. The latter were used to monitor the four sound sources, and provide additional trajectories at 1500 m (the rest depth of the floats). The program was supported with remote sensing (sea-surface temperature and ocean color), and altimetry for mapping sea surface height (remote sensing data is not included on the DVD). Data files are in NetCDF and text formats.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "NCEI Dataset Landing Page",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
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    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
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    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/oas/159562",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for a descriptive web page with download links.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "HTTPS",
    "accessURL": "https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/download/159562",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Navigate directly to the URL for data access and direct download.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "FTP",
    "accessURL": "ftp://ftp-oceans.ncei.noaa.gov/nodc/archive/arc0113/0159562/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "These data are available through the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). FTP is no longer supported by most internet browsers. You may copy and paste the FTP link to the data into an FTP client (e.g., FileZilla or WinSCP).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 21. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions/iso/xml/0159562.xml
issued 2017-01-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "0159562",
  "CHLOROPHYLL A",
  "Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)",
  "SALINITY",
  "turbidity",
  "WATER TEMPERATURE",
  "CTD",
  "profiling float",
  "biological",
  "physical",
  "PROFILING FLOAT",
  "Leidos",
  "Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - Environmental Studies Program (BOEM - ESP)",
  "Gulf of Mexico",
  "Northwest Atlantic Ocean (limit-40 W)",
  "oceanography",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > CHLOROPHYLL",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > ORGANIC MATTER",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN OPTICS > TURBIDITY",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE",
  "EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY",
  "CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth",
  "OCEAN PLATFORMS",
  "PROFILING FLOAT (ICES code: 33PF)",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA",
  "OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO"
]
landingPage https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2017-10-24T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions
spatial -73.0,19.0,-98.0,35.0
temporal 2011-07-01T00:00:00+00:00/2015-06-30T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title Ocean currents, temperatures, and others measured by drifters and profiling floats for the Lagrangian Approach to Study the Gulf of Mexico’s Deep Circulation project 2011-07 to 2015-06 (NCEI Accession 0159562)

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