Indian Ocean CTD Profiles from GEOSECS Expedition, 1977-1978

Indian Ocean temperature and salinity profile data were collected from the R/V Melville between December 6, 1977 and April 21, 1978. The dataset is part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration Geochemical Ocean Section Study (IDOE/GEOSECS) project, submitted by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Data were processed into the NODC High-Resolution STD/CTD Data (F022) format, providing near-continuous profiles with depth intervals as fine as 1 meter.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature and salinity gradients to understand water mass structure.
• Calculating density (sigma-t) from temperature and salinity profiles for stability and circulation studies.
• Correlating oceanographic conditions with meteorological data recorded at the time of each cast.
• Examining spatial and temporal variability of physical parameters during the GEOSECS expedition.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to the NODC standard F022, ensuring a consistent structure for profiles.
• Profiles offer high-resolution measurements, with data points potentially reported at 1-meter depth intervals.
• Dataset is part of the significant, multi-platform GEOSECS international research program.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-04-01, while NASA Earthdata lists 1978-04-21.
• The specific parameters beyond temperature, salinity, and computed density (e.g., dissolved oxygen) are not guaranteed for all casts.

Provenance

Source

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Collection Method

Collected using STD/CTD casts from the R/V Melville.

Time Range

1977-12-06 to 1978-04-21

Freshness

2026-04-01

Geography

Indian Ocean