Furman Ship Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1969

February 17 to March 11, 1969, temperature-depth profiles collected by the ship FURMAN in the North Pacific Ocean using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT). The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into standard C128 format, contains pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, useful for studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers. It is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying short-term temperature variability in the North Pacific Ocean during late winter 1969.
• Calibrating or validating ocean mixed-layer models with historical in-situ profile data.
• Investigating cruise-based spatial patterns of sea surface and subsurface temperatures.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific cruise from February 17 to March 11, 1969.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.
• Cross-platform presence (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) indicates recognized importance and curation.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license are unavailable across all sources.
• The MBT instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• A conflict exists in the 'last updated' metadata: Data.gov lists 2026-03-05, while NASA Earthdata lists the original collection date of 1969-03-11.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1969-02-17 to 1969-03-11

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:27:15.144369

Geography

North Pacific Ocean