Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from Bay of Fundy and North Atlantic

Bay of Fundy and North Atlantic Ocean temperature-depth profiles collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments. Data from nine ships, including the GOSNOLD and NOAA Ship Albatross IV, were processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. Observations cover a four-month period from September to December 1969.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal thermal stratification in the upper 285 meters of the ocean using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying spatial variability of near-surface ocean temperatures across the Bay of Fundy and North Atlantic using cruise position data.
• Reconstructing historical ocean conditions for climate model validation using time-stamped observations from 1969.
• Investigating instrument-specific data characteristics from mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) records formatted to NODC C128 standard.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Temporal coverage is precisely defined from 1969-09-01 to 1969-12-31.
• Spatial scope is specific, covering the Bay of Fundy and North Atlantic Ocean.
• Data collection involved multiple vessels (nine ships), providing varied sampling points.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: row count, column names, data size, and license are listed as unknown or 'None' across all sources.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to upper ocean layers only.
• Freshness conflict: last update dates disagree between platforms (2026 vs. 1969), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) casts from research vessels, processed to NODC standard C128 format.

Time Range

1969-09-01 to 1969-12-31

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:36:43.459092

Geography

Bay of Fundy and North Atlantic Ocean