Historical North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from KIRKPATRICK

Temperature-depth profile data collected using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) from the vessel KIRKPATRICK in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains pairs of temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, covering the period from July 27, 1955, to March 27, 1956. Data was processed and standardized into the NODC C128 format by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) and is archived by NOAA NCEI.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal or spatial variability in North Atlantic surface waters during 1955-1956 using cruise date, position, and time metadata.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model hindcasts for the mid-20th century using standardized NODC C128 format data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistency.
• Provides a specific temporal focus (8-month period from 1955-07-27 to 1956-03-27) for targeted historical analysis.
• Includes core metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is ~285m, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Critical quantitative metadata (exact row count, file size, column names) is unavailable from all sources.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates between platforms (2026-04-01 vs. 1956-03-27) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel KIRKPATRICK.

Time Range

1955-07-27 to 1956-03-27

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:07:48.717561

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean