North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from the LANSING Vessel

Temperature-depth profiles from the upper ocean were collected by the vessel LANSING using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) in the North Pacific Ocean. The dataset contains observations from a four-day cruise in February 1964, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. It provides paired temperature and depth measurements at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper 285 meters of the North Pacific.
• Studying short-term thermal variability over a four-day period in a specific ocean region.
• Calibrating or validating models of upper-ocean heat content using historical in-situ data.
• Investigating the performance and data characteristics of the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to a recognized standard (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating direct comparison.
• Each observation includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• The dataset is limited to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (1964 vs. 2026), creating uncertainty about provenance handling.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-02-11 to 1964-02-14

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:51:50.222506

Geography

North Pacific Ocean (specific coordinates not provided)