Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the BETELGEUSE Expedition

Bathythermograph data from the BETELGEUSE expedition provides temperature-depth profiles at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum of approximately 285 meters. The dataset covers the Alboran Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and North Atlantic Ocean over a six-week period from January 14 to February 28, 1956. It was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical sea surface temperature variability in the Alboran Sea region.
• Validating oceanographic models for the Mediterranean Sea using mid-20th century baseline data.
• Researching seasonal oceanographic changes in early 1956 across the North Atlantic transition zone.
• Mapping cruise track data using reported position, date, and time for each observation.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistency.
• Temperature readings are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.
• Provides precise temporal coverage over a focused six-week cruise in 1956.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData signals its archival importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all platforms.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to approximately 285 meters depth.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, listing both 1956-02-28 and 2026-03-05.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the BETELGEUSE cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1956-01-14 to 1956-02-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:37:03.489346

Geography

Alboran Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and North Atlantic Ocean.