Historical Bathythermograph Data from Alexander Agassiz Cruises

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the NOAA vessel ALEXANDER AGASSIZ captures temperature-depth profiles of the upper ocean layer. The dataset covers cruises in the Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of California, and North Pacific Ocean between September 1963 and December 1966. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format, containing paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical temperature-depth profiles for the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Studying the thermal structure of the Gulf of Alaska and Gulf of California across multiple seasons.
• Tracing cruise tracks, dates, positions, and times for the ALEXANDER AGASSIZ vessel operations.
• Investigating inter-annual variability in near-surface ocean temperatures from 1963 to 1966.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to a known NODC standard (C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a multi-year time series from 1963 to 1966 across several distinct ocean regions.
• Temperature readings are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating comparative analysis.

Limitations

• The mechanical bathythermograph's maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean layer.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and column names are not provided by any source platform.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 on datagov vs. 1966-12-19 on nasa_earthdata).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during research cruises and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-09-09 to 1966-12-19

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:00:00.650508

Geography

Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of California, North Pacific Ocean.