Mechanical Bathythermograph Data from DOLPHIN Cruise

NOAA NCEI provides a dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations collected during the DOLPHIN cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean. The data consists of temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals up to approximately 285 meters. These standardized C128 format records were processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center and cover a specific two-day period in November 1970.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying short-term ocean temperature variability in the North Atlantic using time-stamped profile data.
• Correlating cruise information and positional data with historical oceanographic conditions.
• Calibrating modern ocean models against historical mechanical bathythermograph observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistency.
• Observations provide high vertical resolution with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Each profile includes associated metadata such as cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• The dataset's scope is extremely limited, covering only a two-day period from November 9-10, 1970.
• Platform sources conflict on update dates, with one showing a 2026 administrative update and another showing the original 1970 date.
• Key technical details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1970-11-09 to 1970-11-10

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:02:32.261683

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean.