ALAMINOS Ship Bathythermograph Temperature Profiles in Gulf of Mexico

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the ALAMINOS ship provides temperature-depth profiles for the upper ocean layers in the Gulf of Mexico. The dataset covers a specific cruise from February 25 to March 3, 1969, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. Data pairs of temperature and depth are recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical temperature-depth profiles for the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Studying thermal stratification and mixed layer depth in the Gulf of Mexico for a specific time period.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model simulations for the region using in-situ profile data.
• Investigating short-term temperature variability during a single research cruise in late February 1969.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard format (NODC C128).
• Each observation includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.
• Temperature values are recorded at a consistent, uniform depth interval of 5 meters.
• Cross-platform presence on U.S. government data portals indicates formal curation and archival.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing, including total row count, file size, and specific column names.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits useful data to the upper ocean layers (~285m max depth).
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 1969 to a future date in 2026.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1969-02-25 to 1969-03-03

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:46:52.450991

Geography

Gulf of Mexico