High-Resolution Ocean CTD Profiles from 1970-1971

NODC-processed high-resolution CTD/STD data from the USS Skipjack and ALBACORE vessels in the North and South Pacific Oceans. The dataset contains nearly continuous vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, density, and other parameters, recorded at depth intervals as fine as one meter. It was collected and standardized by NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical structure of temperature and salinity for water mass identification.
• Calculating density (sigma-t) profiles to study ocean stratification and stability.
• Examining spatial and temporal patterns of ocean parameters across the Pacific basin.
• Correlating cast-specific metadata (position, time, meteorological conditions) with profile data.

Strengths

• Data is in a standardized NODC format (F022) ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides high-resolution profiles with sampling intervals as fine as 1 meter.
• Includes metadata for each station: cruise info, position, date, time, and environmental conditions.
• Covers a significant time range (approximately 11 months) across two ocean basins.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Data values may be subject to averaging, filtering, or interpolation as noted in the format description.
• The last updated date conflicts between sources (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1971-09 30 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected using Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) and Salinity-Temperature-Depth (STD) instruments lowered from research vessels.

Time Range

1970-11-07 to 1971-09-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:52:24.332041

Geography

North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean