Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from CARYSFORT Cruise

1960-08-17 to 1960-10-10 temperature-depth profiles collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) during the CARYSFORT cruise in the Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, and Tasman Sea. The dataset was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. It provides paired temperature and depth measurements at uniform 5-meter intervals, capturing the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying spatial variability of sea surface and subsurface temperatures across the Coral Sea and Tasman Sea.
• Investigating historical ocean conditions for climate model validation during the 1960 timeframe.
• Examining cruise-based observational data that includes position, date, and time metadata for each profile.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from August to October 1960 for a defined research cruise.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating comparative analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on government data portals signals its archival importance and reliability.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as exact row count, file size, column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, excluding deeper ocean layers.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one listing 2026-03 05 and another listing the original collection date of 1960-10-10.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), via the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed to NODC standard C128 format.

Time Range

1960-08-17 to 1960-10-10

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:51:44.533004

Geography

Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea (from the CARYSFORT cruise).