Gulf of Alaska CTD/STD Profiles from RV Alpha Helix Cruise

High-resolution oceanographic data from a November 1981 research cruise by the RV Alpha Helix in the Gulf of Alaska. The dataset contains continuous vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and density, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard F022 format. Measurements were taken at specified depth or pressure levels, with intervals as fine as 1 meter.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical water column structure using temperature, salinity, and computed sigma-t (density) columns.
• Studying short-term oceanographic variability in the Gulf of Alaska during the specified November 1981 time period.
• Calibrating ocean models with high-resolution, quality-controlled historical CTD/STD observations.
• Correlating subsurface ocean conditions with reported surface meteorological and sea state data from the cruise.

Strengths

• Data is processed to the NODC's standardized High-Resolution CTD/STD (F022) format, ensuring a consistent structure.
• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles with sampling depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.
• Includes ancillary station data such as position, date, time, and environmental conditions for context.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source platform.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one platform listing 2026-04-01 (likely a metadata refresh) and another listing the original collection end date of 1981-11-24.
• The license and author information are listed as unknown across all platforms.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from the RV Alpha Helix research vessel.

Collection Method

Collected using Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) and Salinity-Temperature-Depth (STD) instruments lowered through the water column, then processed by NODC.

Time Range

1981-11-17 to 1981-11-24

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:06:32.019681 (metadata update on datagov)

Geography

Gulf of Alaska