1. Go to the Nutrient Enhanced Coastal Ocean Productivity (NECOP) Program website. Scroll down to the table of NECOP Projects Year and click on 1994.

2. Go to the Transect C section and click on View Transect C Data Structure. Print these meta-data so you have the column descriptions.

3. Go to the Transect C section and right click on View Transect C Data. Go to Save Link As. Save data as ctrans94.txt (remembering in which directory the file is saved).

   Importing Data into Excel

4. Open Microsoft Excel. Open the ctrans94.txt file. You will get the Text Import Wizard.
   • Step 1 - Select Delimited, Start Import at Row: 1, and File Origin: Windows (ANSI). Next.
   • Step 2 - Select Delimiters: Tab & Space and Text Qualifier: ". Check Treat consecutive delimiters as one. Next.
   • Step 3 - Set the data format for the following columns by highlight the column then clicking on the correct Column Data Format type:
     • Date (Column 1): Date (MDY)
     • Lat (Column 4): Text
     • Lon (Column 5): Text
     Click Finish.

5. Highlight all the columns with data by clicking on the column letter (columns A - AC). On the top command bar, go to Data, Sort. Sort by Stn in Descending order, then by Date in Ascending order. We are sorting the stations in descending order because we are only interested in one station (6B) and this puts the data for that station at the top of the table. Make sure Header Row is selected. OK.

   Graphing the Data

6. We will graph the data for station 6B for each date separately. The dates should correspond with the following Excel table rows:
   • March 15: Rows 2-22
   • May 17: Rows 23-43
   • June 14: Rows 44-67
   • July 1: Rows 68-88
   • August 17: Rows 89-109
   • August 25: Rows 110-141
   • September 13: Rows 142-164
   • September 27: Rows 165-187
   • October 20: Rows 188-210

   NOTE: If you see cells that contain ######### it just means that your column is not wide enough to display the full value. To widen the column, click on the line dividing the column headers and drag.

7. Select the I & J columns for the rows of the date in which you are interested. For example, for March 15, select cells I2 - J22. Click on the (chart wizard) icon.
   • Step 1 - Under Standard Types tab, select Chart Type: X-Y Scatter. Under Chart Sub-type select Scatter with data points connected by lines (first chart in the third row). Next.

   • Step 2 - Under Data Range tab, Make sure the Series In: Columns is selected. Go to the Series tab. We want depth on the Y axis and dissolved oxygen on the X axis, so for the X values and Y values we need to switch the "I"s (representing depth) to "J"s (representing dissolved oxygen) and vice versa. (for example, X values = ctrans94!$J$2:$J$22, Y value=ctrans94!$I$2:$I$22 ). Next.

   • Step 3 - Chart Options. Enter the titles, legend, etc. that you wish. X axis is dissolved oxygen (mg/L) and the Y axis is depth (m). Make sure you put that graph's date in the title so you can keep them separate. Under Legend tab, unclick Show Legend. Next.

   • Step 4 - Select Place Chart As New Sheet: [type chart name]. Finish.

8. Looking at the graph, it would make sense to have 0 depth at the top, so right click on any of the numbers on the Y axis. Format Axis. Under the Scale tab, select Values in reverse order. OK.

9. To more readily compare graphs, make all the scales of the horizontal and vertical axes the same for each graph. Right click on any number on the X axis. Format Axis. Under the Scale tab, set Minimum to 1 and Maximum to 12. OK. Now do the same for the Y Axis, setting the Minimum to 1, Maximum to 20 and the Major Unit to 5. OK.

10. To save your spreadsheet and plots, go to File, Save As. Select File Type Microsoft Excel Workbook (*.xls).

You have just graphed the 1994 dissolved oxygen concentrions for a station in the Gulf of Mexico. At this point, you can refer back to the Bridge data tip for discussion questions and ideas, and for more links on related subjects. This graphing exercise can be repeated for other stations and/or other years.