Deepwater physical oceanography reanalysis and synthesis of historical data: Synthesis report

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Deepwater Physical Oceanography Reanalysis and Synthesis of Historical Data: Synthesis Report. The report documents the reanalysis and synthesis of historical physical oceanographic data in the Gulf of Mexico, including hydrographic data, data from drifters or floats, current measurements, and circulation models output from Government, industry, and academic institutions. The main conclusions are that the general surface circulation of the Gulf is well characterized by the available information, but not so the deepwater circulation. Besides other general conclusions, the report contains extensive and detailed discussions of many oceanographic processes active in the Gulf. Climatology of current statistics, vertical profiles, persistence tables, and eddy kinetic energy, among others, are provided by region and depth. Future observational programs are recommended, consisting of mooring arrays, monitoring operational systems, lagrangian deployments, and enhancements for numerical circulation models. The report includes three CD-Rom’s with the assembled extensive databases.