Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1,120 XBT Drops, 1994-1995

NOAA NCEI data from the SEAS III program contains bathythermograph (XBT) measurements collected from over a dozen ships. The 21 files cover 1,120 XBT drops transmitted from cruise ships to the National Ocean Service in Rockville, MD. Data collection occurred between March 16, 1994 and February 28, 1995.

Use Cases

• Analyze historical ocean temperature profiles based on bathythermograph (XBT) data.
• Study data collection and transmission methods for shipboard environmental monitoring based on the SEAS III program description.
• Model regional sea temperature variability over time based on data from over a dozen different ships.

Strengths

• Contains data from 1,120 individual bathythermograph (XBT) drops.
• Temporal coverage is explicitly defined from March 16, 1994 to February 28, 1995.
• Data was collected from over a dozen different ships, suggesting geographic diversity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated 1995-02-28 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI, submitted by Chris Noe to NODC.

Collection Method

Collected via Shipboard Environmental Data Acquisition System (SEAS) III program and transmitted via telecommunications.

Time Range

1994-03 16 to 1995-02-28

Freshness

1995-02-28 00:00:00

Geography

Likely covers ocean areas traversed by the over a dozen cruise ships; specific regions are not stated.