Bering Sea Ocean Temperature Profiles from XBT Casts

Bering Sea and other sea areas contain temperature-depth profiles collected from NOAA Ship RESEARCHER and other platforms between February 25 and July 27, 1987. Data were collected using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) and bathythermograph (BT) instruments, processed into the NODC Universal Bathythermograph Output (UBT) format. The format records temperature at non-uniform inflection points along the depth profile, which can be interpolated to uniform increments.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ocean thermal structure based on paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal temperature changes in the Bering Sea during the 1987 observation period.
• Calibrating ocean models using historical in-situ profile data from XBT casts.
• Investigating the vertical temperature gradient at inflection points recorded by the instruments.

Strengths

• Data collection is supported by a specific research project (Equatorial Pacific Ocean Climate Studies - EPOCS).
• Instruments can profile depths up to 1830 meters, providing deep ocean measurements.
• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC UBT) with available specification.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are unspecified across all sources.
• Metadata conflicts exist: one platform lists a last update date in 2026, while another lists 1987, creating uncertainty about provenance timeliness.
• Spatial coverage beyond the Bering Sea is described only as 'other Sea areas' without precise boundaries.

Provenance

Source

National Ocean Service (NOS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Collection Method

Collected via XBT and BT casts from ships.

Time Range

1987-02-25 to 1987-07-27

Freshness

1987-07-27 00:00:00

Geography

Bering Sea and other sea areas