North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from the DARBY Expedition

Temperature-depth profile data collected using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the DARBY expedition in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains observations from August 1960 to March 1961, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. Each record includes cruise information, date, position, time, and paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the seasonal thermal structure of the upper North Atlantic Ocean between 1960 and 1961 using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical oceanographic conditions for climate model validation using the precisely documented date, time, and position data.
• Investigating the vertical temperature gradient in the ocean's upper 285 meters using data recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring a consistent structure.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific 7-month expedition from August 1960 to March 1961.
• Contains detailed metadata for each observation, including cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing from all sources, including row count, column names, file size, and specific license.
• The MBT instrument's maximum depth of ~285 meters limits analysis to the ocean's upper thermal layers only.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one platform reporting 2026 and another reporting 1961.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), collected during the DARBY expedition.

Collection Method

Observations gathered using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1960-08-11 to 1961-03-19

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:06:25.029041

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean