American Bay Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1966-1967

6600301 NCEI Accession contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data from the American Bay in the North and South Atlantic Ocean. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration processed the data into the NODC C128 format, which records temperature-depth profile pairs at uniform 5-meter intervals. Observations were collected over a five-week period from December 16, 1966, to January 21, 1967.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper 285 meters of the ocean using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal or short-term temperature variations in the Atlantic Ocean during the 1966-1967 period.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature profiles for specific locations.
• Using the standardized C128 format data for comparative studies with other historical bathythermograph records.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure for temperature-depth profiles.
• Provides a specific temporal snapshot with a clear time range from 1966-12-16 to 1967-01 21.
• Includes detailed metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Key metrics like row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting last update dates exist between platforms (2026-04-01 on Data.gov and 1967-01-21 on NASA EarthData).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profile data obtained using the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-12-16 to 1967-01-21

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:53:08.549393

Geography

AMERICAN BAY in the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean