Historical MBT Ocean Temperature Profiles from D. A. Munro
Updated 2mo ago
12files
Available on 2 platforms
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Description
Over 12 years of historical ocean temperature-depth profiles were collected by D. A. MUNRO using mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments. The dataset, processed by NODC into the standard C128 format, covers the North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and South Pacific Ocean from 1945 to 1957. Each observation includes cruise information, date, position, time, and temperature values recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters.
Use Cases
Analyzing historical thermal structure of the upper ocean layers using temperature-depth value pairs.
Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures and subsurface thermal layers across the North Pacific and adjacent seas.
Validating long-term ocean reanalysis and climate models with in-situ temperature profile data from the mid-20th century.
Investigating cruise-based oceanographic expeditions and their sampling strategies through reported cruise information, date, position, and time.
Strengths
Provides a long temporal record spanning over 12 years from 1945 to 1957.
Data is standardized into the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
Includes precise geospatial coverage across multiple major ocean basins (North Pacific, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific).
Limitations
Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unknown across all sources.
The MBT instrument's maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters limits utility to studying only the upper ocean layers.
Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2026-04-01 on datagov vs. 1957-07-17 on nasa_earthdata), creating uncertainty about data currency.
Provenance
Source
NOAA_NCEI (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information).
Collection Method
Data collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments during oceanographic cruises and processed by NODC (National Oceanographic Data Center).
Time Range
1945-01-23 to 1957-07-17
Freshness
2026-04-01 14:58:14.801414
Geography
North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean.
License information is not provided. The dataset's presence on multiple platforms (datagov, nasa_earthdata) indicates its importance but also highlights metadata inconsistencies.