North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1955

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the ALCOR cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center. The dataset captures temperature-depth profiles at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum of 285 meters. It provides a nine-day snapshot of the ocean's thermal structure from June 15 to June 23, 1955.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical ocean conditions during a specific cruise, using reported date, position, and time.
• Calibrating or validating models of near-surface ocean temperature gradients.
• Investigating short-term temperature variability in a specific North Atlantic region.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides detailed vertical resolution with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Covers a specific, documented nine-day cruise with associated metadata (cruise info, date, position, time).

Limitations

• Row count, total size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1955-06-23) creates uncertainty about provenance tracking.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1955-06-15 to 1955-06-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:51:37.742532

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean