HMS Hecla Bathythermograph Data from the South Atlantic

Temperature-depth profiles were collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) aboard HMS Hecla in the South Atlantic Ocean during February 1966. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), contains pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals. It documents the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical ocean conditions in the South Atlantic during February 1966 using cruise date and position data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models with in-situ temperature profiles from a known instrument (MBT).

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128).
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1966-02-01 to 1966-02-27.
• Records data at a consistent vertical resolution of 5-meter depth intervals.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and file size are unknown.
• The MBT instrument's maximum depth of approximately 285 meters limits analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026 vs. 1966).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard HMS Hecla and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-02-01 to 1966-02-27

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:33:49.490186

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean