Ocean CTD Profiles for Light Transmission and Temperature in the Northwest Atlantic

Over 9 months of high-resolution oceanographic data were collected from the R/V OCEANUS in the Northwest Atlantic. The dataset contains profiles of temperature, salinity, density, light transmission, and water depth from CTD and light transmissometer casts. It was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the F022 format and involves contributions from the U.S. Geological Survey and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical profiles of temperature and salinity to study water mass structure.
• Correlating light transmission measurements with depth to model underwater light fields.
• Examining density (sigma-t) gradients to understand ocean stratification and mixing processes.
• Using station position, date, and time data for spatiotemporal analysis of ocean conditions.

Strengths

• Data provides nearly continuous profiles with depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.
• Collection spans a defined 9-month period from September 1981 to July 1982.
• Processed to a standardized NODC format (F022) ensuring consistent structure.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting last update dates exist: one source lists 1982-07 15, others list 2026-03-05.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, supported by the New England Continental Margin project.

Collection Method

Data collected using CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth) and light transmissometer casts from the R/V OCEANUS.

Time Range

1981-09-29 to 1982-07-15

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:42:58.520722

Geography

Northwest Atlantic Ocean