Historical Caribbean Sea Temperature Profiles from Mission Buenaventura

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the NOAA NCEI mission MISSION BUENAVENTURA provides temperature-depth profiles for the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains observations from a single cruise spanning from May 7 to June 9, 1964, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to a maximum of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) for a specific time period.
• Studying historical ocean thermal conditions in the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean regions.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model simulations for the 1960s using in-situ profile data.
• Investigating cruise-based spatial and temporal temperature variations from paired temperature-depth values.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides a focused time series from a specific research cruise over a 34-day period in 1964.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a consistent, high-resolution 5-meter depth interval.

Limitations

• Critical metadata such as row count, column names, and file size are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts data to the upper ocean only, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, reporting either 1964-06-09 or a future date of 2026-03-05.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-05-07 to 1964-06-09

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:36:17.516729

Geography

Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean