Historical MBT Ocean Temperature Profiles from MILLICOMA Cruise

NOAA_NCEI provides bathythermograph (MBT) data from the MILLICOMA vessel, collected in the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean during July and August 1963. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Data is processed into the NODC standard C128 format, which includes cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical upper-ocean thermal structure using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal temperature variations in the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic during summer 1963.
• Validating or calibrating oceanographic models with precisely located, time-stamped profile data.
• Investigating the spatial distribution of near-surface ocean temperatures from cruise track data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.
• Provides precise temporal (1963-07-01 to 1963-08-27) and geographic (Caribbean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean) context for each profile.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, file size, and license are unknown across all sources.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to the upper ocean, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Platforms disagree on the last updated date (datagov: 2026-03-06; nasa_earthdata: 1963-08-27), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information)

Collection Method

Data collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the MILLICOMA vessel and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-07-01 to 1963-08-27

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:07:06.520122

Geography

Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean