CURRENT DIRECTION, SALINITY - SURFACE WATER and other data from DRIFTING PLATFORM in the Gulf of Mexico and Coastal Waters of Gulf of Mexico from 1992-08-13 to 1995-08-05 (NCEI Accession 9600132)

The water depth and temperature data were collected in Gulf of Mexico as part of Louisiana-Texas (LATEX part C *Louisiana and Texas: LaTex*) Gulf of Mexico Eddy Circulation Study from aircraft between August 13, 1992 and August 5, 1995. The originator's bathythermograph aerial (AXBT) data containing 20 drops and 13,314 (80 characters long) records were submitted by Dr. Thomas Berger, Science Applications, Inc. Raleigh NC. The study was supported by grant no MMS 14-35-0001-30633.

LATEX is a three-part, $16.2 million federal initiative funded by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior. The study was conducted to aid MMS in reducing risks associated with oil and gas operations on the continental shelf along the Texas and Louisiana coasts from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Rio Grande.

Begun in September 1991, it was the largest physical oceanography program ever undertaken in the Gulf. The program consists of three major parts: LATEX A, B, and C, conducted by the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS), Louisiana State University (LSU), and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), respectively.

LATEX C was carried out by researchers at SAIC and the University of Colorado. Loop Current eddies, slope eddies, and squirts and jets within the Gulf of Mexico were located and tracked by air-deployed temperature profiling instruments and drifting buoys. Using these data, scientists assessed the impact of these Gulf-wide, circulation features on shelf circulation and identified the processes that interact with the shelf.

Data has been processed to the NODC standard Drifting Buoy Data (F156) format.

The F156 data type contains time series ocean circulation data determined by tracking the movement of drifting buoys, drogues or other instrumented devices. Movement is reported as point-to-point geographic locations determined by shore-based, surface ship, aircraft or satellite observations. Data from both ocean currents and sea ice movement can be reported in this format over time periods ranging from minutes to months. Directions and speeds between individual observations may be computed from these data and presented in graphic or summary listing form to provide information on circulation patterns and mass transport in offshore and nearshore regions.

Platform name (for platform acquiring data or deploying device), drogue characteristics, start and end positions and times, and observation frequency (if constant time interval) are reported for each series of observations. The data record comprises position, date and time for each observation. Other surface meteorological or oceanographic parameters (e.g., water temperature and salinity, air temperature and pressure, wind, waves) and subsurface data (depth, pressure, temperature) may also be reported. Text records may be used to report general comments or to describe individual drogue observations.