Global Ocean Temperature and Salinity Profiles from GEOSECS Expedition

High-resolution temperature and salinity profile data were collected globally from the R/V Knorr between July 1972 and June 1974 as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration's Geochemical Ocean Section Study. Scripps Institution of Oceanography submitted the data, which the National Oceanographic Data Center processed into the standardized F022 format. This dataset provides nearly continuous vertical profiles of key oceanographic parameters from CTD and STD instrument casts.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical stratification of temperature and salinity across global ocean basins.
• Calibrating or validating ocean circulation models using historical density (sigma-t) profiles.
• Studying temporal changes in ocean properties by comparing this 1970s baseline with modern data.
• Correlating dissolved oxygen or water transparency measurements with temperature and salinity at depth.

Strengths

• Data provides high-resolution profiles with sampling intervals as fine as 1 meter.
• Coverage is global, representing a wide distribution across world oceans and seas.
• Data is standardized to the NODC F022 format, ensuring consistent structure and metadata.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and complete column list are unknown from provided sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one showing 1974 and another showing a future date of 2026.
• License information is not provided across any platform.

Provenance

Source

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, submitted to the National Oceanographic Data Center.

Collection Method

Data collected using STD and CTD instrument casts from the R/V Knorr.

Time Range

1972-07-24 to 1974-06-08

Freshness

1974-06-09 00:00:00

Geography

World-wide distribution across oceans and seas.