North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from USNS James M. Gilliss, 1967

December 7-16, 1967 temperature-depth profiles collected by the USNS James M. Gilliss in the North Atlantic Ocean using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT). The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) processed the data into its standard C128 format, which records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters. This dataset provides a snapshot of the upper ocean thermal structure from a specific research cruise.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper ocean (0-285m) for a specific location and time.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in the North Atlantic during December 1967 using paired temperature-depth values.
• Validating or calibrating ocean mixed-layer models with historical in-situ profile data.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature patterns.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring a consistent structure.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a 10-day period in December 1967.
• Records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating consistent vertical analysis.
• Cross-platform presence (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) indicates recognized archival importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, specific column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, capturing only the upper ocean layer.
• The NASA Earthdata source provides no descriptive information, creating a metadata gap.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from NODC.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during a research cruise.

Time Range

1967-12-07 to 1967-12-16

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:22:42.067260

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean