Ocean Time-Series
Providing data access to Oceanographic time-series
measurements collected during experiments by the U.S. Geological Survey
between 1975 and the present as part of research programs.
Overview
This service provides access to time-series oceanographic data collected by USGS investigators and collaborators as part of experiments to study circulation and sediment transport in the coastal ocean. The experiments were typically one month to several years long and were carried out between 1975 and the present. Measurements include current velocity, temperature, pressure, conductivity, light transmission (beam attenuation) among others. The experiments often focused on observations near the sea floor, but most also obtained some data in the water column. Data are provided at the fastest instrument sampling interval and often as hourly averages. Experiments longer than a few months may entail multiple, sequential instrument deployments; the data for these experiments are available as separate records.
The data are stored in Network Common Data Format (netCDF). NetCDF is a general, self-documenting, machine-indepent, open source data format created and supported by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). The NetCDF files use the Climate and Forecast convention (CF). CF is an extension of conventions used by the Cooperative Ocean/Atmosphere Research Data Service (COARDS) for the standardization of netCDF files. CF is widely used by climate modelers, and is becoming more widely used by oceanographers. The files may be downloaded or accessed using the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP). The OPeNDAP framework allows users to access data from anywhere on the internet using a variety of different client-server methods. In addition, the data are served via Thematic Realtime Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) on each project's page.
More information about the engineering and technical capabilities of the group responsible for collecting most of the data is available on the Sediment Transport Instrumentation Facility web pages.
Contacts
Steven Suttles
U.S. Geological Survey
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Phone: 508-457-2228
Email: ssuttles@usgs.gov