Water temperature, salinity, and others collected by CTD from NOAA Ship Nancy Foster in the Caribbean Sea and Southern Gulf of Mexico from 2016-05-10 to 2016-06-15 (NCEI Accession 0210506)

This dataset contains sea water property (profile) data taken by Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) from NOAA Ship Nancy Foster during two merged collaborative fisheries oceanography surveys (described in detail below). Data cover 2016-05-10 to 2016-06-15 period. The vessel's Sea-Bird Electronics (SBE) 911plus CTD system was operated at 119 discrete station locations along the survey track. At each location, the CTD package was lowered from the surface to a predetermined depth, sampling continuously. The CTD was configured with a pressure sensor, dual temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen sensors, a chlorophyll a (chl_a) fluorometer, a colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) fluorometer, and an altimeter. The sensor package was attached to a frame configured with a 24-bottle water sampler and 10-liter Niskin water sampling bottles.

The raw CTD data were post-processed to a final state using the SBE Data Processing Software package (Windows-based, publicly available at www.seabird.com). The specific subroutines applied to the data are outlined in the header of each ascii data file found in the dataset (.cnv files). The header of each file also includes the time and location of the cast. In addition to the ascii data in this data submission, .jpg plots of each CTD cast have also been included. These data were not calibrated to bottle samples and are considered final.

The measured and derived parameters in this dataset are:

Time of Cast (elapsed from start, s) Pressure (Digiquartz, db) Temperature (from primary sensor, ITS-90, deg C) Temperature (from secondary sensor, ITS-90, deg C) Conductivity (from primary sensor, S/m) Conductivity (from secondary sensor, S/m) Dissolved Oxygen Raw Voltage (from primary sensor, SBE 43, 0-5 VDC) Dissolved Oxygen Raw Voltage (from secondary sensor, SBE 43, 0-5 VDC) CDOM Relative Fluorescence (WET Labs CDOM Fluorometer, 0-5 VDC) CHL_A Relative Fluorescence (WET Labs ECO-AFL Fluorometer, 0-5 VDC) Altimeter (when in range, depth off the bottom, m) Depth (in salt water, m) Density (from primary sensors, sigma-theta, kg/m^3) Density (from secondary sensors, sigma-theta, kg/m^3) Potential Temperature (from primary sensors, ITS-90, deg C) Potential Temperature (from secondary sensors, ITS-90, deg C) Sound Velocity (from primary sensors, Chen-Millero, m/s) Sound Velocity (from secondary sensors, Chen-Millero, m/s) Dissolved Oxygen (from primary sensor, SBE 43, ml/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from primary sensor, SBE 43, mg/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from primary sensor, SBE 43, umol/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from primary sensor, SBE 43, umol/kg) Dissolved Oxygen (from secondary sensor, SBE 43, ml/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from secondary sensor, SBE 43, mg/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from secondary sensor, SBE 43, umol/l) Dissolved Oxygen (from secondary sensor, SBE 43, umol/kg) Salinity (from primary sensors, Practical, PSU) Salinity (from secondary sensors, Practical, PSU)

The NOAA fleet cruise IDs for these two surveys are NF-16-02 and NF-16-03. However, the CTD were processed together and the cruise ID NF-16-02 refers to data from both cruises. A completed cruise track and project overviews are presented in the included supporting document: NF1602_and_NF1603_CTD_overview.pdf.