Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the R/V Horizon

Global oceans contain temperature-depth profiles collected by the research vessel Horizon using Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments. The dataset covers a 20-year period from 1948 to 1968 across 15 major seas and ocean basins, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. Data records consist of paired temperature and depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals, useful for studying the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical upper ocean thermal structure using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying regional sea temperature variability across the Alboran Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and other listed basins.
• Investigating seasonal or interannual temperature changes from 1948 to 1968 using cruise date and position data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model simulations of the upper 285 meters with in-situ profile data.

Strengths

• Covers a wide geographic scope across 15 distinct seas and ocean basins.
• Provides a consistent 20-year temporal record from 1948-09-16 to 1968-01-26.
• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring structural consistency.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals for comparability.

Limitations

• Maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean.
• Specific row count, column names, and total dataset size are unknown from provided sources.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with dates of 2026-03-06 and 1968-01-26 reported.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments from the R/V Horizon and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1948-09 16 to 1968-01-26

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:26:31.311459

Geography

Alboran Sea, Arabian Sea, Coral Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Aqaba, Gulf of California, Gulf of Suez, Indian Ocean, Laccadive Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, Red Sea, South Pacific Ocean