Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from Bathythermographs 1943-1990

This dataset is a compilation of unprocessed mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) and expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data, providing ocean temperature-depth profiles. It spans nearly five decades, from August 1943 to April 1990, and was submitted by the United Kingdom. The data is stored in legacy C116 and C128 formats.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical ocean temperature trends using depth-profile data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean climate models with mid-20th century observations.
• Studying the evolution of oceanographic data collection from MBT to XBT instruments.
• Researching specific regional sea conditions in areas like the Alboran Sea or Andaman Sea.

Strengths

• Covers a long historical period of nearly 47 years (1943-1990).
• Contains data from multiple UK submissions, indicated by accession numbers 7601931, 7800266, and 8700346.
• Represents foundational in-situ oceanographic measurements from a key era of exploration.

Limitations

• Key technical details are unknown, including row count, specific column names, and file size.
• Data is described as 'unprocessed' and in legacy formats (C116/C128), which may require specialized handling.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (1990 vs. 2026), suggesting potential stale or administrative updates.

Provenance

Source

United Kingdom, compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Compilation of submitted, unprocessed bathythermograph data.

Time Range

1943-08-11 to 1990-04-13

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:06:07.705408

Geography

Multiple seas including the Alboran Sea, Andaman Sea or Burma Sea, and others.