North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from XBT Casts (1985)

NOAA_NCEI provides temperature profile and water depth data collected via bathythermograph (BT) and expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts from the OLEANDER and other vessels. Measurements were taken in the North Atlantic Ocean during 1985 under the Ships Of Opportunity Program. The data is processed into the NODC standard C116/C118 format, containing paired temperature-depth values recorded at non-uniform inflection points.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure in the North Atlantic Ocean using paired temperature-depth columns.
• Studying seasonal oceanographic changes in 1985 using timestamped profile data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models with in-situ temperature measurements from XBT casts.
• Investigating the Ships Of Opportunity Program's data collection methodology for ocean monitoring.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C116/C118), ensuring consistency.
• Profiles capture temperature at inflection points, optimizing data for accurately defining the temperature curve.
• Cross-platform presence on NASA EarthData and Data.gov signals importance and facilitates broader access.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (1985-12-17 vs. 2026-03-05), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

National marine Fisheries Service; Narragansett Bay Laboratory.

Collection Method

Collected using BT and XBT casts from ships as part of the Ships Of Opportunity Program (SOOP).

Time Range

1985-01-18 to 1985-12-17

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:04:38.219926

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean.