South China Sea Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1969

South China Sea temperature-depth profiles collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) aboard the vessel KING from May 21 to 23, 1969. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, containing pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals. This dataset is hosted by NOAA NCEI and also appears on NASA EarthData, indicating cross-platform relevance.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) for a specific cruise.
• Studying short-term temperature variations at fixed depth intervals (5m) in the South China Sea.
• Correlating temperature profiles with reported cruise metadata like date, position, and time.
• Providing a historical baseline for upper ocean heat content studies in the region.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to a recognized standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context for each profile (specific dates and South China Sea location).
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1969-05-23 on NASA EarthData).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from NODC.

Collection Method

Collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during a cruise.

Time Range

1969-05-21 to 1969-05-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:49:26.445175

Geography

South China Sea