South Atlantic Ocean Station and Temperature Profiles from 1968

Ocean station and bathythermograph data from the South Atlantic Ocean's GOA region, collected over a two-month period in 1968. The dataset contains physical-chemical measurements from discrete depth levels, primarily using Nansen bottle casts, with a small percentage from early CTD/STD recorders. Data was processed and standardized by the National Oceanographic Data Center into C100 (station) and C128 (MBT temperature-depth profile) formats.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature profiles in the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using MBT (C128) data.
• Studying correlations between salinity, temperature, and derived parameters like density (sigma-t) at standard depth levels from Ocean Station (C100) data.
• Investigating nutrient distributions (phosphate, silicate, nitrate) and dissolved oxygen levels from bottle sample measurements.
• Examining historical meteorological conditions (air temperature, pressure, wind) recorded concurrently with oceanographic casts.
• Mapping cruise tracks and station locations for spatial analysis of ocean properties in the GOA region.

Strengths

• Data is processed to NODC's standardized C100 and C128 formats, ensuring consistent structure.
• Includes interpolated values at standard depth levels, facilitating comparative analysis across stations.
• Covers a specific two-month cruise period (1968-09-19 to 1968-11-17) with detailed station metadata.
• Contains multiple measured and derived parameters including temperature, salinity, nutrients, and computed density.

Limitations

• Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) data is limited to the upper ~285 meters of the water column.
• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unavailable across all platforms.
• A conflict exists in 'last updated' dates: one platform lists 2026-04-01 (likely a metadata refresh), while another lists the collection end date of 1968-11 17.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), via the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Collection Method

Observations from ship-based oceanographic stations using multi-bottle Nansen casts, other water samplers, and early electronic CTD/STD recorders.

Time Range

1968-09-19 to 1968-11-17

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:22:00.923378

Geography

GOA region in the South Atlantic Ocean.