USS MISPILLION Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1964

Bathythermograph data records temperature-depth pairs from the USS MISPILLION's 1964 cruise. The dataset covers the East China Sea, Japan Sea, North Pacific Ocean, and Philippine Sea over a one-month period. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format for mechanical bathythermograph observations.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying spatial temperature variations across the East China Sea, Japan Sea, North Pacific, and Philippine Sea.
• Investigating short-term (monthly) ocean temperature conditions for July-August 1964.
• Using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata to contextualize each profile observation.
• Examining temperature data recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals for consistency.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128) ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific cruise from 1964-07-01 to 1964-08 01.
• Contains spatially specific observations from four distinct ocean regions in the western Pacific.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and file size are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation: Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) data is only useful for the upper ocean layers, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Platforms disagree on the last updated date: datagov reports 2026-03-05, while nasa_earthdata reports the original data date of 1964-08-01.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profiles obtained using the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-07-01 to 1964-08-01

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:13:16.059795

Geography

East China Sea, Japan Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea