South China Sea Temperature Profiles from 1966

Bathythermograph data from the research vessel CHICAGO provides temperature-depth profiles for the upper ocean layers in the South China Sea. The dataset contains observations processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. Measurements were collected over a two-week period in June 1966.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean up to 285 meters depth using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying short-term temperature variability in the South China Sea during June 1966.
• Correlating oceanographic conditions with specific cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Using the uniform 5-meter depth interval recordings for consistent vertical profile analysis.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage from 1966-06-13 to 1966 06-30 for a specific geographic area.
• Includes core metadata fields such as cruise information, date, position, and time for contextual analysis.

Limitations

• The exact row count, file size, and complete column list are not provided by any source.
• Data is limited to the upper ocean (maximum depth ~285m) due to the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument's range.
• Platforms disagree on the last updated date: Data.gov reports 2026-03-05, while NASA Earthdata reports 1966-06-30.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1966-06-13 to 1966-06-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:32:44.049503

Geography

South China Sea