ALAMINOS Ship Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1969

April 30 to May 28, 1969, temperature-depth profiles from the R/V ALAMINOS in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format. Data is structured as pairs of temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m depth) for a specific cruise.
• Studying historical temperature gradients and variability in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
• Validating or calibrating oceanographic models for the region using in-situ profile data.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature-depth pairs.

Strengths

• Provides a focused, one-month time series (April 30 to May 28, 1969) from a single research vessel.
• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) with uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Cross-platform presence (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) indicates recognized archival importance.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing: exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is ~285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata: Data.gov shows 2026 (likely administrative), while NASA shows 1969 (original).

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements from R/V ALAMINOS cruise.

Time Range

1969-04-30 to 1969-05-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:03:05.385276

Geography

Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico