Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from the North Atlantic, 1970

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the R/V EASTWARD cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean, spanning from June 29 to November 20, 1970. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal changes in upper ocean temperature during a 1970 North Atlantic cruise.
• Mapping the vertical thermal gradient at 5-meter resolution for the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Correlating temperature profiles with specific cruise dates, times, and geographic positions.
• Studying the limitations of Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) data for upper-layer ocean heat content.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Temperature values are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, providing structured vertical profiles.
• Each observation includes associated cruise metadata: date, time, and geographic position.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is ~285m, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layer only.
• Key technical details like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from the sources.
• A conflict exists on the 'last updated' metadata: one source states 2026-03-05, another states 1970-11-20.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the R/V EASTWARD and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1970-06-29 to 1970-11-20

Freshness

2026-03 05 22:39:46.083124

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean