North Atlantic Bathythermograph Data from Multiple Research Vessels

June 3, 1975 to November 20, 1984 is the temporal coverage for this bathythermograph dataset from the Northeast Atlantic. It contains water temperature and depth profiles collected by nine different research vessels and institutions, including the University of Kiel and the German Federal Research Center for Fisheries. The data was submitted to the National Oceanographic Data Center in 1985 and is stored in the legacy C116 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature profiles (bathythermograph data) for ocean thermal structure studies.
• Investigating decadal changes in sea surface and subsurface temperatures in the Northeast Atlantic region.
• Calibrating or validating regional oceanographic models using historical in-situ measurements.
• Studying the spatial distribution of water properties from data collected across multiple ship-based platforms.

Strengths

• Covers a significant multi-year time series from 1975 to 1984.
• Data was collected by multiple reputable German oceanographic institutions, indicating coordinated research effort.
• Its presence on multiple government data platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) signals recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• The exact row count, file size, and complete column schema are unknown across all sources.
• Data is stored in a legacy C116 format which may require specialized tools or conversion for modern analysis.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1984-11-20), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

Data was collected by Helgoland Biological Stations; University of Kiel; Deutsches Hydrographische Institut; German Federal Research Center for Fisheries; and Deutsches Ozeanographisches Datenzentrum.

Collection Method

Ship-based bathythermograph (XBT) casts measuring water temperature and depth.

Time Range

1975-06-03 to 1984-11-20

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:39:59.060273

Geography

Northeast Atlantic (limit -40 W)