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Data and Reports Explorer

Explore our library of NCCOS Technical Memos and various data sets. Filter by the type of publication, research category, region or contact. To access data and reports predating 2017, please visit the Legacy Publications Explorer.

Quantifying the influence of cold water intrusions in a shallow, coastal system across contrasting years: Green Bay, Lake Michigan

We present water column thermal structure for two climatically different years: 2012, which experienced abnormally warm spring and summer air temperatures preceded by a relatively low ice winter and 2013, which experienced cooler than average spring and average summer air temperatures and preceded by average ice conditions. Mean bottom water ...

Quantitative Assessment of Spatially-Explicit Social Values Relative to Wind Energy Areas

The tabular dataset is a product of household survey conducted in 2018. The sampling geography was a predefined coastal region of North and South Carolina adjacent to offshore wind development areas. The subject of the data collection was resident perceptions of local offshore wind energy development. Variables relate to place ...

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for Cochlodinium fulvescens (Dinophyceae), a harmful dinoflagellate from California coastal waters

Harmful blooms formed by species of the dinoflagellate Cochlodinium have caused massive fish kills and substantial economic losses in the Pacific Ocean. Recently, prominent blooms of Cochlodinium have occurred in central and southern California (2004–2008), and Cochlodinium cells are now routinely observed in microscopical analysis of algal assemblages from Californian ...

Ranging patterns, spatial overlap, and association with dolphin morbillivirus exposure in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along the Georgia, U.S.A. coast

During 2013–2015, an outbreak of dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) occurred in the western North Atlantic, which resulted in the stranding of over 1,600 common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). There are currently five coastal and 10 bay, sound, and estuary dolphin stocks along the U.S. Atlantic coast, yet there is very limited ...

Rapid Downward Transport of the Neurotoxin Domoic Acid in Coastal Waters

Toxic phytoplankton blooms threaten coastlines worldwide by diminishing beach quality and adversely affecting marine ecosystems and human health. The common diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia consists of several species known to produce the neurotoxin domoic acid. Recent studies suggest that algal blooms dominated by Pseudo-nitzschia are increasing in frequency and duration owing ...

Reassessing Hypoxia Forecasts for the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico hypoxia has received considerable scientific and policy attention because of its potential ecological and economic impacts and implications for agriculture within its massive watershed. A 2000 assessment concluded that increased nitrate load to the Gulf since the 1950s was the primary cause of large-scale hypoxia areas. More ...

Recommendations on the Use of Ecosystem Modeling for Informing Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management and Restoration Outcomes in the Gulf of Mexico

Ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and ecosystem restoration are gaining momentum worldwide, including in U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Ecosystem models are valuable tools for informing EBFM and restoration activities. In this paper, we provide guidance and a roadmap for ecosystem modeling in the GOM region, with an ...

Reconciling economic impacts and stakeholder perception: A management challenge in the Florida Gulf Coast fisheries

As global fisheries management shifts towards ecosystem-based management, responsible organizations and governments must also address the socio-economic impacts of this shift. This study evaluates potential impacts of such management shift with a case study of Pulley Ridge (PR), an ecologically rich area in the Gulf of Mexico, on fishermen and ...

Recruitment of coral reef fishes: linkages across stages

Recruitment, or the entry, of young coral reef fishes into benthic populations is essential to population survival, but because larvae typically spend several weeks in the plankton away from the reef environment, understanding the entire process encompassing adult spawning, larval dispersal, and final settlement to the reef has been challenging ...

Redox reactions and weak buffering capacity lead to acidification in the Chesapeake Bay

The combined effects of anthropogenic and biological CO2 inputs may lead to more rapid acidification in coastal waters compared to the open ocean. It is less clear, however, how redox reactions would contribute to acidification. Here we report estuarine acidification dynamics based on oxygen, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), pH, dissolved inorganic ...

Regional Essential Fish Habitat Geospatial Assessment and Framework for Offshore Sand Features

The demand for marine sand resources is increasing in the United States, as coastal and offshore sands are commonly used for beach renourishment and barrier island restoration. The dredging of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and sand shoals in particular, is likely to increase in the near future because nearshore ...

Relative role of wind forcing and riverine nutrient input on the extent of hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Seasonal hypoxia of the northern Gulf of Mexico has been observed for more than 25 years. It is generally accepted that the variation in the areal extent of hypoxia is determined by changes in nutrient addition from the Mississippi River. In this study, we investigate the statistical relation between the ...

Report of the Sea Turtle Health Assessment Workshop, 2-3 February 1998, Part I: Background and Information Needs

A two day workshop was convened on February 2-3, 1998 in Charleston, SC with 20 invited experts in various areas of sea turtle research. The goal of this workshop was to review current information on sea turtles with respect to health and identify data gaps. The use of a suite ...

Responses of carbonate system CO2 flux to extended flooding in a semiarid subtropical estuary

Globally, estuaries are considered important CO2 sources to the atmosphere. However, estuarine water carbonate chemistry and CO2 flux studies have focused on temperate and high latitude regions, leaving a significant data gap in subtropical estuaries. In this study, we examined water column carbonate system and air–water CO2 flux in the ...

Responses of the coastal phytoplankton community to tropical cyclones revealed by high-frequency imaging flow cytometry

To investigate the response of a subtropical coastal phytoplankton community to tropical cyclones, we utilized high temporal resolution (hours) data from the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2010, four tropical cyclones (two during June–July and two during September) struck the area. Passage of the cyclones ...

RESTORE Research: Evaluation of Gulf of Mexico oceanographic observation networks, impact assessment on ecosystem management and recommendations: Simulated Current Velocity, Temperature, Salinity, and Elevation from Hydrodynamic Modeling for 2015 (NCEI Accession 0194303)

This dataset is based on archives from the University of Miami’s high-resolution (1/50 degrees, 1.8km) configuration of the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM-HYCOM 1/50) for the year of 2015. The GoM-HYCOM 1/50 used realistic river forcing parameterization with daily river discharge obtained from the ...

Rethinking the river

The Mississippi River and its delta and plume provide insights into research-informed approaches to managing river-dominated coastal zones ...

Retrospective Analysis of Midsummer Hypoxic Area and Volume in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, 1985-2011

Robust estimates of hypoxic extent (both area and volume) are important for assessing the impacts of low dissolved oxygen on aquatic ecosystems at large spatial scales. Such estimates are also important for calibrating models linking hypoxia to causal factors, such as nutrient loading and stratification, and for informing management decisions ...

Risks of ocean acidification in the California Current food web and fisheries: ecosystem model projections

The benefits and ecosystem services that humans derive from the oceans are threatened by numerous global change stressors, one of which is ocean acidification. Here, we describe the effects of ocean acidification on an upwelling system that already experiences inherently low pH conditions, the California Current. We used an end-to-end ...

Salish Sea Activity Book

An activity book designed to introduce elementary school children to the animal, plant life and ecology of the Salish Sea ...