Ocean current, temperature, salinity and turbulence collected from the R/V Walton Smith, R/V Pelican, and R/V Pt. Sur during two summer seasons of intensive field campaigns in the Coastal Waters of Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico from 20210620 to 20220707

Recently, theories for ocean dynamics posit that submesoscale flows
interacting with near-inertial motions are important for understanding the
dynamics of both phenomena. These data provide a basis to test theories of
energy exchange at the submesoscale by studying circulation patterns in
the Mississippi-Atchafalaya river plume in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Observations from ship, moorings, and autonomous platforms made during two
field campaigns are complemented by hydrostatic ROMS modeling and
non-hydrostatic Large Eddy Simulations (LES). By combining data and
models, we characterize, quantify, and understand the energy exchanges
between balanced and unbalanced motions and the turbulent cascade that can
result from the interaction. Wave-mean flow interactions in the
Mississippi-Atchafalaya river plume system could enhance mixing and
vertical exchange, which are important for understanding coastal hypoxia
and the dispersal of pollutants in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The data
archived here are field observations from multiple ships that capture
circulation patterns, stratification variability and turbulence intensity
in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River plume in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
The region is characterized by a strong sea breeze which leads to the flow
and wave variations on relatively small spatial scales of less than 1 km.
Observations were obtained during two intensive field campaigns that
included ship, moored, and autonomous platforms. The project is a
collaboration between the US and the United Kingdom (UK) with the UK
component being supported by the UK National Environmental Research
Council (NERC) through an agreement with NSF.