High-Resolution CTD/STD Profiles from USNS Thomas Washington

High-resolution conductivity-temperature-depth data from the USNS Thomas Washington provides nearly continuous ocean profiles at intervals as fine as 1 meter. Collected in the North Pacific Ocean during a 26-day cruise in early 1980, the dataset includes temperature, salinity, density, and potentially dissolved oxygen or transmissivity. Each station record contains cruise metadata, position, date, time, and may include concurrent meteorological and sea surface conditions.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical profiles of temperature and salinity for water mass identification.
• Studying ocean density structure (sigma-t) to understand stratification and mixing processes.
• Calibrating or validating regional ocean models with historical high-resolution in-situ data.
• Investigating correlations between surface meteorological conditions and subsurface ocean properties.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC F022).
• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles, with data potentially reported at 1-meter intervals.
• Includes ancillary station metadata like position, time, and environmental conditions.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• The dataset's license and precise authorship are unknown.
• Data is from a single, short cruise in 1980, limiting temporal and spatial scope.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from NODC.

Collection Method

Collected via CTD/STD instruments deployed from the USNS Thomas Washington.

Time Range

1980-01-16 to 1980-02-10

Freshness

Metadata was last updated on 2026-03-05, though the underlying data is from 1980.

Geography

North Pacific Ocean