Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from LCI X990 Cruise

February to May 1945 data comprises temperature-depth profiles from the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the LCI X990. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), captures the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers across the Bismarck Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and South Pacific Ocean. Each observation includes cruise metadata, date, position, and time, with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (285m) for a specific historical period.
• Studying spatial temperature variations across the Bismarck Sea, North Pacific, Philippine Sea, and South Pacific.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model simulations for the post-World War II era using precise depth-interval data.
• Investigating cruise-based oceanographic data collection methods and standard formats (NODC C128).

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard format (NODC C128).
• Provides precise temporal (1945-02 09 to 1945-05-14) and broad spatial coverage across multiple Pacific seas.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at consistent 5-meter depth intervals, enabling structured analysis.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing, including row count, file size, and specific column names.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (2026-03-06 on Data.gov vs. 1945-05-14 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to the C128 format.

Time Range

1945-02-09 to 1945-05-14

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:08:12.963732

Geography

Bismarck Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South Pacific Ocean