Historical North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from Mechanical Bathythermograph

Temperature-depth profiles from the upper ocean layers were collected aboard the J. R. PERRY in the North Atlantic Ocean during a one-week cruise in January 1966. The National Oceanographic Data Center processed the data into its standard C128 format, which records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals. This dataset represents a specific historical snapshot of ocean thermal structure.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) for a specific location and time using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying short-term ocean temperature variability during a winter cruise using date, time, and position columns.
• Providing a historical baseline data point for comparisons with modern ocean temperature profiles in the North Atlantic.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring a consistent structure for analysis.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context with a specific cruise (J. R. PERRY), date range (1966-01 05 to 1966-01-11), and location (North Atlantic Ocean).
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating straightforward vertical analysis.

Limitations

• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean layer.
• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, file size, and license are unavailable from the provided sources.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata: datagov lists 2026-04-01, while nasa_earthdata lists the collection end date of 1966-01-11.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1966-01-05 to 1966-01-11

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:16:38.130017

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean