Historical MBT Temperature-Depth Profiles from USS Mispillion

285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature observations in this dataset. It contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data collected by the USS MISPILLION across multiple seas in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The National Oceanographic Data Center processed the data into the standard C128 format, with profiles recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical sea surface temperature and upper ocean thermal structure across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
• Studying temperature-depth profile changes over the 1946-1957 time period for specific cruise tracks.
• Validating or supplementing ocean model reconstructions for the mid-20th century using point measurements of temperature and depth.

Strengths

• Data covers a multi-decade time range from 1946 to 1957.
• Observations follow a standardized format (NODC C128) with uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Geographic coverage includes nine distinct seas and ocean basins.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts useful data to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Data collected using mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1946-07 13 to 1957-10-01

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:03:45.432170

Geography

Andaman Sea or Burma Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean, Laccadive Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea