High-Resolution CTD Profiles from South African Research Vessels, 1989

April to July 1989 oceanographic data collected by the SA Agulhas and Meiring Naude vessels near the Prince Edward Islands and southeast African coast. This dataset contains high-resolution conductivity, temperature, and depth profiles, with measurements potentially as fine as 1-meter intervals. It was collected under the MOES and Natal Bight projects by Chief Scientific Officer B. Allanson and processed by the South African Data Center into the NODC F022 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical structure of temperature and salinity to study water mass distribution.
• Calculating density (sigma-t) profiles to investigate ocean stratification and stability.
• Mapping spatial variability of ocean properties from cruise station position data.
• Correlating subsurface measurements with reported surface meteorological conditions.
• Examining potential dissolved oxygen or water clarity (transmissivity) trends with depth.

Strengths

• Provides high-resolution vertical profiles with potential sampling at 1-meter intervals.
• Covers a specific 3.5-month time range (April 7 to July 22, 1989) from two research vessels.
• Includes metadata for each station: cruise, instrument, position, date, time, and sampling interval.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all platforms.
• Data license and precise authorship details are not provided in the available metadata.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates: Data.gov reports 2026-03 05, while NASA Earthdata reports the collection end date of 1989-07-22.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce; South African Data Center.

Collection Method

Collected via high-resolution CTD instruments deployed from research vessels SA Agulhas and Meiring Naude.

Time Range

1989-04 07 to 1989-07-22

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:24:54.306608

Geography

Prince Edward Islands and southeast coast of Africa (Natal Bight region).