Bathythermograph Temperature Profiles from Alaminos and Hidalgo Cruises

Data from 1962-10-28 to 1967-05-16 contains temperature-depth profiles collected using mechanical bathythermographs (MBT) on the ALAMINOS and HIDALGO research vessels. The dataset covers the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North and South Atlantic Ocean, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. Each observation includes cruise information, date, position, time, and paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m depth) across the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
• Studying historical temperature-depth profiles at uniform 5-meter intervals for climate change research.
• Validating ocean model outputs for the North and South Atlantic Ocean using in-situ cruise data.
• Investigating spatial and temporal patterns of near-surface ocean heat content from 1962 to 1967.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-year time series from 1962 to 1967 for studying decadal-scale ocean variability.
• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency across profiles.
• Includes precise geospatial and temporal metadata (cruise, date, position, time) for each observation.

Limitations

• MBT instrument maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean layers.
• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one source lists 'oceanography' as a tag while others list none.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from NODC.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments on research vessels ALAMINOS and HIDALGO.

Time Range

1962-10-28 to 1967-05-16

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:07:33.078732

Geography

Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean