Ocean Temperature and Depth Profiles from XBT Data (1993)

January 3 to December 21, 1993 data contains water depth and temperature profiles collected via Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts from ships including MONOWAI and MELBOURNE. The dataset is part of the Global Temperature-Salinity Pilot Project (GTSPP), submitted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Australian Oceanographic Data Center. One source indicates it contains 2,715 observations from vessel RAN/RNZN, while another mentions 8,906 delayed-mode XBT records spanning 1986 to 1994.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure of the ocean using depth and temperature columns.
• Studying seasonal or annual ocean heat content changes in the 1993 time period.
• Validating or calibrating oceanographic models with in-situ XBT observation data.
• Investigating data collection methods and quality within the GTSPP delayed-mode data stream.

Strengths

• Data originates from a major international oceanographic program (GTSPP), suggesting standardized collection and formatting.
• One source provides a specific observation count (2,715 obs.) for the 1993 data from vessel RAN/RNZN.
• The temporal coverage for the primary dataset is precisely defined as January 3 to December 21, 1993.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts exist: row counts differ (2,715 vs. 8,906), and temporal coverage is disputed (single year 1993 vs. multi-year 1986-1994).
• Column names and specific data structure (beyond GTSPP format) are unknown from provided sources.
• License information is not provided across all platforms.

Provenance

Source

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Australian Oceanographic Data Center.

Collection Method

Collected via Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts from a dozen ships, submitted in GTSPP format.

Time Range

1993-01-03 to 1993-12-21 (with conflicting references to data from 1986-1994).

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:08:05.822143

Geography

Specific geographic coverage is not stated, but data is from ships including MONOWAI and MELBOURNE, likely in the Southern Ocean/Australasian region.