High-Resolution Pacific Ocean CTD Profiles from 1984-1986

Over 1,000 vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and density were collected from the TOGA Area of the Pacific Ocean between November 1984 and December 1986. The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory gathered this data using CTD and STD instruments from the NOAA Ship RESEARCHER and other platforms, processed to the NODC F022 standard format. Profiles offer near-continuous measurements at depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature and salinity structure in the equatorial Pacific for climate studies.
• Calculating water density (sigma-t) from measured temperature, salinity, and pressure to study ocean stratification.
• Correlating station-based oceanographic profiles with concurrent surface meteorological conditions.
• Examining changes in dissolved oxygen or water clarity (transmissivity) across depth and time.
• Using precise station location, date, and time metadata to map the spatial and temporal coverage of the EPOCS project.

Strengths

• Data is structured to a documented, standard NODC format (F022) ensuring interoperability.
• Profiles provide high-resolution measurements, with values reported at depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.
• Collection supported by a defined research project (Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Studies - EPOCS).
• Includes multiple parameters per cast: temperature, salinity, density, and possibly dissolved oxygen or transmissivity.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and column names are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the dataset's last updated date, listing either 1986-12-01 or 2026-04-01.
• License information is not specified across any platform.

Provenance

Source

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1984-11 13 to 1986-12-01

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:26:13.006839

Geography

TOGA Area - Pacific Ocean.