South China Sea Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1967

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the USS CHICAGO cruise in the South China Sea, capturing temperature-depth profiles of the ocean's upper layers. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format, contains observations from December 4 to 15, 1967. It is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying short-term oceanographic variability during a specific cruise by examining profiles recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.
• Investigating historical sea surface temperature and mixed layer depth conditions in the South China Sea.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with the observed temperature profiles for spatiotemporal analysis.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring a consistent structure.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a 12-day cruise in December 1967.
• Contains core oceanographic variables (temperature and depth) recorded at a systematic 5-meter resolution.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all platforms.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, excluding deeper ocean processes.
• Platforms disagree on the 'last updated' date (2026-03-05 vs. 1967-12-15), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the USS CHICAGO and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1967-12-04 to 1967-12-15

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:45:51.406430

Geography

South China Sea