North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from R/V Knorr 1970

NCEI Accession 7100501 contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data collected by the R/V Knorr in the North Atlantic Ocean from December 5 to 16, 1970. The dataset provides temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, processed by NODC into the standard C128 format. This data captures the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean to a depth of 285 meters.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in the North Atlantic during December 1970 using time-series profiles.
• Correlating temperature observations with cruise metadata including date, position, and time.
• Investigating the mixed layer depth and thermal gradients from uniformly sampled 5-meter interval data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128) ensuring consistency.
• Profiles provide uniform vertical sampling at 5-meter depth intervals.
• Each observation is associated with cruise metadata (date, position, time) for spatiotemporal analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates recognized archival importance.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing, including total row count, column names, and file size.
• The dataset is limited to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• There is a conflict in recorded 'last updated' dates between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1970-12-16).

Provenance

Source

NOAA NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information).

Collection Method

Collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the R/V Knorr research vessel.

Time Range

1970-12-05 to 1970-12-16

Freshness

2026-03 05 22:45:09.004140

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean.