HMS Loch Alvie Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles 1955-1959

October 1955 to March 1959 temperature-depth profiles collected by HMS Loch Alvie using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT). The dataset covers multiple regions including the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. Data points consist of temperature readings at uniform 5-meter depth intervals down to a maximum of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical sea surface temperature trends in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea using the reported temperature-depth pairs.
• Mapping the thermal structure of the upper ocean (down to ~285m) for specific cruises using the provided date, position, and time metadata.
• Studying seasonal or interannual variability in the Mediterranean Sea and Gulf of Oman from 1955 to 1959.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model hindcasts for the 1950s using precise temperature profiles recorded at 5m intervals.

Strengths

• Provides a multi-year temporal record from October 1955 to March 1959.
• Covers a wide geographical area across nine distinct seas and gulfs.
• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring a consistent structure for analysis.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a consistent, high-resolution 5-meter depth interval.

Limitations

• Platforms disagree on the last updated date (2026-04-01 vs. 1959-03-31), creating uncertainty about metadata currency.
• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unknown.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean layer.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from HMS Loch Alvoy.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1955-10-14 to 1959-03-31

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:53:20.430631

Geography

Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean, Laccadive Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Red Sea