Ocean Temperature Profiles from FORSTER Cruise in 1967

Temperature-depth profiles collected using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) from the FORSTER cruise in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. The dataset covers a specific period from January 16 to February 23, 1967, and was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. It is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Studying seasonal or historical thermal conditions in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
• Validating ocean model simulations for the upper ocean mixed layer.
• Correlating cruise-reported position and time data with temperature observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.
• Each observation includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details are unknown: total row count, file size, and specific column names.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is ~285m, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata: one source states 2026-03-05, another states 1967-02 23.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the FORSTER cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1967-01-16 to 1967-02-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:39:39.531782

Geography

Philippine Sea and South China Sea