Historical North Pacific Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from J.R. Perry

Temperature-depth profiles from the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the J.R. Perry, recorded in the North Pacific Ocean over two days in February 1967. The data is processed into the NODC standard C128 format, containing pairs of temperature and depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals. This dataset is curated and published by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper 285 meters of the North Pacific.
• Calibrating or validating ocean mixed-layer models with historical in-situ measurements.
• Studying short-term (daily) thermal variability at a specific oceanographic location.
• Investigating the performance and data characteristics of the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistent structure for analysis.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct comparisons.
• Each observation includes associated cruise information, date, position, and time metadata.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers.
• Core metadata such as row count, column names, file size, and license information is unavailable across all platforms.
• The temporal coverage is extremely brief, spanning only two days in 1967.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed to NODC standard format.

Time Range

1967-02-08 to 1967-02-09

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:35:47.560884

Geography

North Pacific Ocean