NOAA High-Resolution CTD/STD Ocean Profiles from 1972-1974
Updated 2mo ago
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Description
June 1972 to September 1974 data contains high-resolution conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) and salinity-temperature-depth (STD) profiles from three USNS vessels in the Gulf of Alaska, North Atlantic, and North and South Pacific Oceans. Processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard F022 format, the dataset provides near-continuous measurements of temperature, salinity, density, and other parameters at depth intervals as fine as one meter. It includes cruise metadata, station positions, times, and environmental observations from the cast period.
Use Cases
Analyzing vertical profiles of temperature and salinity for oceanographic research.
Studying historical density (sigma-t) variations across major ocean basins.
Investigating dissolved oxygen or water transparency (transmissivity) trends from the early 1970s.
Correlating meteorological and sea surface conditions recorded during casts with subsurface measurements.
Mapping cruise tracks and sampling stations of USNS Kane, Silas Bent, and Wilkes for spatial analysis.
Strengths
High-resolution sampling with depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.
Multi-vessel coverage from three USNS ships across four major ocean regions.
Standardized processing into the NODC F022 format ensures consistent data structure.
Temporal coverage spans over two years from June 1972 to September 1974.
Limitations
Specific row counts, column details, and dataset size are unknown from available sources.
Conflicting license information: one source lists 'unknown', another lists 'None'.
Potential for data averaging, filtering, or interpolation as noted in the F022 format description.
Provenance
Source
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).
Collection Method
Collected via CTD and STD instruments deployed from USNS Kane, USNS Silas Bent, and USNS Wilkes.
Time Range
1972-06-17 to 1974-09-24
Freshness
2026-04-01 15:10:01.309132
Geography
Gulf of Alaska, North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean.
Data is presented in the NODC F022 format; users should familiarize themselves with its structure. Platform-specific update dates conflict (datagov shows 2026, nasa_earthdata shows 1974). License status is unclear between sources.