Mediterranean Sea Upper-Layer Temperature Profiles from 1968

January 14-30, 1968 temperature-depth profiles collected by the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the COLUMBUS in the Alboran and Mediterranean Seas. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, contains pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. It is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying short-term temperature variability in the Alboran Sea during January 1968.
• Validating regional ocean model outputs for historical surface and near-surface conditions.
• Correlating cruise-based observational data (date, position, time) with other historical marine datasets.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides precise temporal (January 1968) and spatial (Alboran and Mediterranean Seas) coverage for a specific research cruise.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Key structural metadata is missing: exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts data to the upper ~285 meters of the ocean, excluding deeper thermal features.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (1968 vs. 2026), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1968-01-14 to 1968-01-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:39:29.255445

Geography

Alboran Sea and Mediterranean Sea