North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from R/V GERDA Cruise

Temperature-depth profile data collected using mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments during a cruise of the R/V GERDA in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset covers a 17-day period from July 13 to July 29, 1959, and has been processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. It provides paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, useful for studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical sea surface temperature and sub-surface heat content changes in the North Atlantic.
• Validating or calibrating oceanographic models for the 1950s time period with precise cruise, date, position, and time metadata.
• Investigating short-term (daily to bi-weekly) variability in ocean temperature profiles during a summer cruise.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific 17-day cruise in July 1959.
• Includes detailed metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.
• Temperature data is recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Instrument (MBT) maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Key quantitative details like row count, column names, and dataset size are unavailable across all sources.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata: one source reports 2026-03-06 (likely a repository update), while another reports the data end date of 1959-07-29.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from R/V GERDA cruise.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1959-07-13 to 1959-07-29

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:16:41.799780

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean