Mediterranean Sea Temperature Profiles from the COLUMBUS Expedition

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the 1968 COLUMBUS cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, processed into the NODC C128 standard format. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, capturing the thermal structure of the ocean's upper 285 meters. It is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal or historical thermal changes in the Mediterranean Sea using cruise date and position data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models for the upper 285-meter layer with standardized profile data.
• Investigating spatial temperature gradients using the reported position (latitude/longitude) for each observation.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a consistent standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural uniformity.
• Temperature readings are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating direct profile comparisons.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific research cruise from June 3 to June 25, 1968.

Limitations

• Maximum observation depth is limited to approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layers.
• Critical metadata such as exact row count, column names, and file size are unavailable across all platforms.
• The last updated date conflicts between sources (2026 on Data.gov vs. 1968 on NASA Earthdata), suggesting metadata inconsistency.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the COLUMBUS cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1968-06-03 to 1968-06-25

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:39:55.015353

Geography

Mediterranean Sea