Caribbean Sea Temperature Profiles from J. R. PERRY Cruise, 1964

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the J. R. PERRY research vessel in the Caribbean Sea during February 1964. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal or historical ocean temperature variability in the Caribbean Sea using cruise date and location data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model outputs for the upper 285 meters using instrument-specific profile data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency.
• Provides precise temporal (1964-02-01 to 1964-02-19) and spatial (Caribbean Sea) context for each observation.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating profile analysis.

Limitations

• Row count, file size, and specific column names are unknown across all platforms.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to the upper ~285 meters of the ocean.
• Platforms conflict on the last updated date (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1964-02-19 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during a research cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-02-01 to 1964-02-19

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:52:31.970054

Geography

Caribbean Sea