Since 1977, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center has been collecting hydrographic data on the northeast US continental shelf in support of efforts to understand how the components of this ecosystem influence the distribution, abundance, and productivity of living marine resources. Temperature and salinity profile data are collected on all Northeast Fisheries Science Center cruises, amounting to nearly 2000 profiles collected each year on the northeast continental shelf from Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Maine. The data are collected aboard a variety of vessels, but most regularly from the Delaware II, HB Bigelow. The data are used to characterize baseline conditions on the shelf, as documented in annual summaries of regional average temperature and salinity, surface and bottom property distributions and their anomalies relative to a consistent reference (http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/HydroAtlas.) The data have been and continue to be used to monitor the seasonal to inter-annual variability of water properties on the northeast US continental shelf.
These data are also accessible directly from the National Marine Fisheries Center http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/epd/ocean/MainPage/ioos.html and from the National Oceanographic Data Center at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/. Some of the data are also available from the Canadian Marine Environmental Data Service (MEDS) at http://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/isdm-gdsi/index-eng.html .
It is requested that people use the following standard acknowledgement when publishing or presenting results that utilize NMFS data extracted from BCO-DMO.
"This study utilized data collected by the NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center as part of an ongoing mission to monitor and assess the Northeast Continental Shelf ecosystem."
The null values of '999' were replaced with 'nd'.
A unique purpose code has been assigned to each survey, identifying the Northeast Fisheries Science Center program or larger national program to which those data are associated.
Purpose Codes:
01 BLUEFISH SURVEY
02 LOBSTER SURVEY
03 COD SPAWNING SURVEY
04 COOPERATIVE RESEARCH SURVEY - GOOSEFISH
05 COOPERATIVE RESEARCH SURVEY - IBS COD
06 COOPERATIVE RESEARCH SURVEY - IBS YELLOWTAIL
07 COOPERATIVE RESEARCH SURVEY - GEAR SELECTIVITY STUDY
10 NMFS NEFSC BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
11 MASSACHUSETTS DMF BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
12 NMFS NEFSC HERRING BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
13 NMFS NEFSC MISCELLANEOUS BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
14 BIOME STATIONS
15 SCOTIAN SHELF REVISION
16 NMFS ACOUSTICS SURVEY
17 DEEPWATER SYSTEMATICS
19 EXPERIMENTAL GEAR TEST
20 GLOBEC BROADSCALE SURVEY
21 GLOBEC PROCESS STUDY
22 ECOSYSTEM MONITORING
23 MARMAP
24 LARVAL HERRING SURVEY
25 12-MILE DUMPSITE
26 ICNAF LARVAL HERRING SURVEY
27 WARM CORE RING CRUISE
28 COLTON CRUISE
29 STVOR CRUISE
30 FOREIGN BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
31 FOREIGN PELAGIC TRAWL SURVEY
32 FOREIGN MACKEREL SURVEY
33 FOREIGN FEEDING ECOLOGY
35 MISCELLANEOUS FOREIGN SURVEY
36 FOREIGN HERRING BOTTOM TRAWL SURVEY
37 FOREIGN SCALLOP SURVEY
38 FOREIGN GEAR CRUISE
40 NMFS NEFSC SHRIMP SURVEY
50 NMFS NEFSC CLAM AND QUAHOG SURVEY
60 NMFS NEFSC SEA SCALLOP SURVEY
70 NMFS NEFSC GEAR COMPARISON
71 NMFS GEAR/SENSOR TESTING AND MENSURATION
80 FOOD CHAIN DYNAMICS FEEDING ECOLOGY SURVEY
81 COASTAL OCEAN PROGRAM
82 APEX PREDATOR SURVEY
90 MISCELLANEOUS NON-RANDOM RESOURCE INVESTIGATION CRUISE
91 BENTHIC HABITAT STUDY
93 MARINE MAMMAL SURVEY
Occasionally, a cruise identifier (or opsid) contains more than one part. For example, ALB0301, actually consists of five (5) opsid's. This is because multiple hardware breakdowns during the cruise required that the ship return to port. Because these port visits spanned many days, different opsid's were assigned to each contiguous leg of the cruise.