North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1963

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the ESSEX cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean, spanning April 16-26, 1963. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format. It documents the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean for a specific time and location.
• Investigating short-term thermal variability in the North Atlantic during April 1963.
• Using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata to contextualize historical oceanographic observations.
• Studying temperature gradients at uniform 5-meter depth intervals from the surface down to ~285m.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard format (NODC C128).
• Provides precise temporal (11-day cruise) and spatial (North Atlantic Ocean) context for each profile.
• Measurements are recorded at a consistent, fine vertical resolution of 5-meter intervals.

Limitations

• The exact number of rows, columns, and file size is unknown from all provided sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to the upper ~285 meters of the ocean, missing deeper thermal structure.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026 vs. 1963) creates uncertainty about provenance timing.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the ESSEX cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-04-16 to 1963-04-26

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:21:40.807412

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean