Ocean Temperature Profiles from XBT Casts During IDOE 1974-1975

Temperature-depth profile pairs were collected from expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts aboard the CALIFORNIAN and other vessels between August 1974 and March 1975. The National Marine Fisheries Service gathered this data as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration, with profiles processed by NODC into the Universal Bathythermograph Output format. Measurements capture inflection points to define the temperature curve, reaching depths of 450, 760, or 1830 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical ocean temperature structure using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying temporal changes in sea surface temperature and thermocline depth from August 1974 to March 1975.
• Mapping cruise-based temperature observations using reported position, date, and time columns.
• Comparing inflection point sampling methodology against uniform depth interval data.
• Validating ocean model outputs against historical in-situ XBT measurements.

Strengths

• Data is structured in a documented standard format (NODC UBT) with a publicly available specification.
• Profiles capture key inflection points, optimizing data density for accurate temperature curve definition.
• Measurements cover a defined 8-month time range from a specific international research program (IDOE).
• Instrument capabilities are specified, with profiles reaching 450m, 760m, or 1830m depths.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are unknown across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (1975-03-22 vs. 2026-04-01), indicating potential metadata inconsistency.
• License information is not provided, restricting clarity on reuse permissions.

Provenance

Source

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Collection Method

Expendable bathythermograph (XBT) casts from research vessels.

Time Range

1974-08-01 to 1975-03-22

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:09:59.167337

Geography

Pacific Ocean (from CALIFORNIAN and other platform operations).