North Pacific Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from HAVERFIELD

5900110 records temperature-depth profiles from the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the HAVERFIELD in the North Pacific Ocean. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, with measurements taken at uniform 5-meter intervals. The dataset captures the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers from February 1959 to May 1960.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the seasonal evolution of the upper ocean thermal structure in the North Pacific using paired temperature-depth values.
• Calibrating or validating ocean mixed layer models with historical in-situ profile data.
• Studying spatial patterns of near-surface ocean temperature from cruise-based observations reported with position and time.
• Investigating the limitations of mechanical bathythermograph technology for capturing phenomena below approximately 285 meters.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Profiles provide systematic measurements at uniform 5-meter depth intervals down to ~285m.
• Covers a defined 15-month time range from 1959-02-07 to 1960-05-23 for temporal study.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and file size are unavailable across all sources.
• The MBT instrument's maximum depth of ~285 meters restricts analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• A conflict exists in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026-04-01 vs. 1960-05-23).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1959-02-07 to 1960-05-23

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:22:33.486444

Geography

North Pacific Ocean