Mediterranean Sea Temperature Profiles from 1967 MBT Survey

This dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) temperature-depth profiles collected by the vessel COLUMBUS in the Mediterranean Sea during February 1967. Data is formatted to the NODC standard C128 format, providing pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. The dataset is processed and hosted by NOAA NCEI.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean using temperature-depth profile pairs.
• Studying historical ocean conditions in the Mediterranean Sea during February 1967 using cruise, date, position, and time metadata.
• Calibrating or validating models of upper ocean heat content limited to the top 285 meters.
• Investigating short-term (17-day) oceanographic variability from a single cruise track.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Temperature observations are recorded at a high-resolution, uniform 5-meter depth interval.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a 17-day cruise in February 1967.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• The MBT instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean.
• Sources conflict on license information, with one listing 'None' and another providing no information.

Provenance

Source

NOAA NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel COLUMBUS and processed to NODC standard format.

Time Range

1967-02-01 to 1967-02-17

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:20:27.469989

Geography

Mediterranean Sea.