Historical North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from FORSTER

5900106 is a dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) temperature-depth profiles collected from the vessel FORSTER in the North Pacific Ocean. The data, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, captures the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers during a specific cruise from July 16 to July 23, 1959. It represents a historical snapshot of ocean conditions, contributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) for a specific time and location.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in the North Pacific during July 1959 using paired temperature-depth values.
• Validating or supplementing historical ocean model reanalyses with in-situ cruise data from a known vessel (FORSTER).
• Examining the methodology and data format of historical NODC-standardized bathythermograph (C128) records.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to a known NODC format (C128), ensuring a consistent structure for temperature-depth pairs.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context with recorded cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating consistent vertical analysis.

Limitations

• The dataset's exact size, row count, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with one platform listing 2026-03 05 and another listing the original collection date of 1959-07-23.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to the C128 format.

Time Range

1959-07-16 to 1959-07-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:45:42.690342

Geography

North Pacific Ocean