Historical North Pacific Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles

Temperature-depth profiles from four research vessels in the North Pacific Ocean, spanning a decade from April 1955 to May 1965. Data was collected using Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed into the NODC standard C128 format. This dataset provides a systematic record of the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers during this period.

Use Cases

• Analyzing decadal temperature trends in the upper 285 meters of the North Pacific.
• Calibrating or validating historical ocean model simulations using observed temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying the seasonal and spatial variability of the ocean's mixed layer using uniform 5-meter interval data.
• Correlating cruise-specific ocean conditions with other historical meteorological or biological records.

Strengths

• Data covers a consistent 10-year time range from 1955-04-02 to 1965-05-15.
• Profiles are standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring a consistent structure of temperature-depth pairs.
• Measurements are reported at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct comparison.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one states 2026-03-06 (likely a metadata update), while another states 1965-05 15 (the data end date).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from research vessels ALASKA, CAPT BILL III, CARYN, and N. B. SCOFIELD.

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1955-04-02 to 1965-05-15

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:11:53.355075

Geography

North Pacific Ocean