Historical Arabian Sea Temperature Profiles from HMS Loch Lomond

285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at 5-meter intervals. The dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations from the HMS Loch Lomond cruise in the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying spatial temperature gradients across the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea.
• Investigating seasonal or historical ocean temperature trends for a specific three-week period in 1952.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model outputs for the region using in-situ historical data.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring a consistent structure for analysis.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific cruise from April 18 to May 7, 1952.
• Temperature readings are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic profile comparison.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing, including row count, file size, column names, and specific license information.
• The dataset is limited to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• The last updated date conflicts between sources (2026-03-05 on datagov vs. 1952-05-07 on nasa_earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument readings processed by NODC.

Time Range

1952-04 18 to 1952-05-07

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:03:16.006423

Geography

Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea