NOAA Ship Temperature Profiles from the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, 1986

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service collected temperature and water depth profiles using bathythermograph (BT/XBT) instruments from the ships DELAWARE II and ALBATROSS IV. Data collection occurred over a defined period from September 14 to October 23, 1986, in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean west of 40°W. The data were processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C116/C118 XBT format, which records temperature-depth pairs at non-uniform inflection points.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature gradients in the ocean water column using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal thermal changes in the Northwest Atlantic during the fall of 1986 using time-stamped profiles.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of ocean temperatures using reported cruise position data (latitude/longitude).
• Comparing historical XBT data collection methods, which recorded inflection points, against modern uniform-interval profiles.

Strengths

• Data originates from a authoritative government source, NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.
• Collection period is precisely defined, spanning from 1986-09-14 to 1986-10-23.
• Data is structured to a recognized standard format (NODC C116/C118) for bathythermograph profiles.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• The dataset is historical, with no updates indicated beyond its original collection and processing in 1986.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

Collection Method

Collected using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) and bathythermograph (BT) instruments from NOAA research vessels.

Time Range

1986-09-14 to 1986-10-23

Freshness

1986-10-23 00:00:00

Geography

Northwest Atlantic Ocean (limit 40°W)