Historical Navy Bathythermograph Profiles from the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans

Multiple sea regions across the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans are covered by this dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) profiles collected by HMAS Derwent. It contains temperature-depth pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to approximately 285 meters, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. Data collection occurred between September 1964 and July 1967.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth profile pairs.
• Mapping historical sea surface temperature patterns across the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans using cruise position data.
• Studying seasonal or interannual variability in the mixed layer depth within specific regions like the South China Sea or Coral Sea.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model simulations of the upper ocean for the mid-1960s period.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistent structure.
• Covers a multi-year time range (1964-1967) across 14 distinct sea regions, providing broad spatial coverage.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a consistent, high-resolution depth interval (5 meters).

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, specific column names, and data license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts profiles to a maximum depth of ~285m, capturing only the upper ocean thermal structure.
• A conflict exists for the 'last updated' field: one platform reports 2026-04-01 (likely a metadata refresh), while another reports 1967-07 22 (the data collection end date).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements collected by HMAS Derwent, processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-09 01 to 1967-07-22

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:54:16.329531

Geography

Bismarck Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Thailand, Indian Ocean, Japan Sea, Laccadive Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, Solomon Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea.