Indian Ocean Temperature Profiles 1906-1989

26,000 temperature profiles from the Indian Ocean collected between 1906 and 1989, primarily from bathythermographs with some Nansen and CTD casts. The data, originally part of the ORSTOM-managed IOSBT database, were compiled to support tuna industry research and are structured for selection and plotting with accompanying software. This dataset is archived by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is also available via NASA Earthdata.

Use Cases

• Analyzing long-term subsurface temperature trends in the Indian Ocean using depth-profile data.
• Calibrating or validating historical ocean climate models with in-situ measurements up to 500m depth.
• Studying the thermal environment for tuna fisheries research across an 83-year period.
• Examining the spatial and temporal distribution of temperature data collected via multiple instrument types (XBT, Nansen cast, CTD).

Strengths

• Contains 26,000 individual temperature profiles, providing substantial observational density.
• Covers an extensive 83-year time range (1906-1989), enabling long-term trend analysis.
• Data originates from a curated research database (IOSBT) specifically designed for subsurface temperature synthesis.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data schema are not documented in the available metadata.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between platforms (1989-12 31 vs. 2026-03-05), indicating potential metadata inconsistency.
• The original data delivery was on obsolete media (DOS backup on 5.25" diskettes), which may pose accessibility challenges.

Provenance

Source

ORSTOM (France), via the Indian Ocean Subsurface Temperature (IOSBT) database.

Collection Method

Profiles gathered from bathythermographs (XBT), Nansen casts, and CTD casts.

Time Range

1906-01-01 to 1989.12-31

Freshness

2026-03 05 22:53:26.685845

Geography

Indian Ocean