North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from A. E. VERRILL

285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature observations in this dataset. It contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data from the research vessel A. E. VERRILL, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. The data provides paired temperature-depth values at 5-meter intervals for a two-day cruise in August 1970.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper 285 meters of the North Atlantic ocean.
• Studying short-term thermal variability over a two-day period in a specific ocean region.
• Validating or calibrating models of upper ocean heat content using historical in-situ data.
• Researching the capabilities and data structure of the NODC C128 format for mechanical bathythermograph records.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides high-resolution vertical sampling with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Includes essential metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, geographic position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details are missing: the total number of profiles (rows) and specific column names are unknown.
• The dataset's utility is confined to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Temporal coverage is extremely limited to a 2-day period in August 1970.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce, via the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel A. E. VERRILL and processed to NODC standard format.

Time Range

1970-08-12 to 1970-08-13

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:49:55.268265

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean