Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from the MODESTE Expedition
Updated 3mo ago
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Available on 2 platforms
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Description
The Andaman Sea, Burma Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea are covered by this dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) measurements from the MODESTE expedition. It contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. Data collection occurred between June 12, 1956, and March 19, 1958, and is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Use Cases
Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
Studying historical sea surface temperature trends and subsurface variability in the South China Sea region.
Validating or initializing regional ocean climate models with historical in-situ profile data.
Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature-depth pairs for spatiotemporal analysis.
Strengths
Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a specific research expedition over a nearly two-year period (1956-1958).
Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform depth intervals (5m), facilitating systematic profile analysis.
Limitations
Maximum observation depth is limited to approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
Conflicting metadata exists: the last updated date is reported as 2026-03-05 on Data.gov but 1958-03-19 on NASA EarthData.
Specific column names, row counts, file size, and license information are not provided by any source.
Provenance
Source
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Collection Method
Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to the C128 format.
Time Range
1956-06 12 to 1958-03-19
Freshness
2026-03-05 23:31:09.061427
Geography
Andaman Sea or Burma Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea
License information is unknown; users should verify terms before use. The dataset's presence on multiple platforms (Data.gov, NASA EarthData) indicates importance but also reveals metadata conflicts.