Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the CAPRICE Expedition

Bathythermograph (MBT) data documents ocean temperature-depth profiles collected during the CAPRICE expedition across multiple seas and oceans. The dataset covers a period from April 1959 to January 1961, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. It provides paired temperature and depth measurements at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying spatial variability of sea surface temperature across the Arabian Sea, East China Sea, and other listed regions.
• Investigating seasonal or interannual changes in ocean heat content from 1959 to 1961 using time-series data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model simulations for the mid-20th century using standardized NODC C128 format data.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Provides detailed temporal coverage from 1959-04-08 to 1961-01-03 across a wide geographic area.
• Measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct comparisons.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and license information are unavailable from the provided sources.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, excluding deeper ocean layers.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' field between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1961-01-03 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the CAPRICE expedition and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1959-04-08 to 1961-01-03

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:06:27.208213

Geography

Arabian Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, Laccadive Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Philippine Sea, Red Sea, South China Sea.