Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1978 POLYMODE Expedition

Temperature profile data were collected in the Atlantic Ocean using bathythermograph (XBT) instruments aboard the research vessel ATLANTIS 2. This dataset is part of the IDOE/POLYMODE project, a collaborative international ocean exploration effort. The data were submitted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and cover a specific cruise from May 17 to June 3, 1978.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure in the Atlantic Ocean for a specific time period.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model hindcasts for the late 1970s.
• Studying the methodology and data quality of historical expendable bathythermograph (XBT) deployments.
• Contributing to long-term studies of ocean heat content changes.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major oceanographic institution (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).
• Collection is part of a significant international collaborative project (IDOE/POLYMODE).
• Provides a precise temporal snapshot from a known vessel (ATLANTIS 2) over 18 days in 1978.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and file size are unknown from all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one lists 1978-06-03, another lists a future date of 2026-04-01.
• License information is not provided.

Provenance

Source

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, submitted to NOAA/NCEI.

Collection Method

Collected using bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from the R/V ATLANTIS 2.

Time Range

1978-05 17 to 1978-06-03

Freshness

1978-06-03 00:00:00

Geography

Atlantic Ocean