Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from J.E. Pillsbury 1963-1965

August 1963 to May 1965 temperature-depth profiles from the J.E. Pillsbury vessel in the North and South Atlantic Ocean. Data is processed into the NODC standard C128 format for mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) records, with observations limited to the upper 285 meters of the ocean. Each record includes cruise information, date, position, time, and paired temperature-depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical ocean temperature variability in the Atlantic Ocean using geospatial and temporal coordinates.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model outputs for the 1960s against in-situ MBT observations.
• Investigating cruise-based oceanographic data collection methods from the mid-20th century.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 21-month time range from August 1963 to May 1965.
• Profiles are processed to a standardized format (NODC C128) with uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Each observation includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• MBT instrument limits depth observations to approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layers.
• Key quantitative details like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026 vs 1965), casting doubt on data currency.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI

Collection Method

Processed by NODC from mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument data collected on the J.E. Pillsbury vessel.

Time Range

1963-08-03 to 1965-05-01

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:32:41.255131

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean