Historical Bathythermograph Temperature Profiles from the Bering Sea and North Pacific

Bering Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea temperature-depth profiles collected from the vessel MOORE during 1959. The dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into its standard C128 format. Measurements are limited to the upper ocean layers, with data recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal ocean temperature changes in 1959 across the Bering Sea and North Pacific using date and position columns.
• Comparing historical upper-ocean conditions from cruise-based observations with modern datasets.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot of ocean conditions over an 8-month period in 1959.
• Contains specific geographic coverage across multiple seas, including the Bering Sea and Philippine Sea.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Platforms disagree on the 'last updated' date (2026-04 01 vs. 1959-09-17), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from the vessel MOORE.

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1959-01-18 to 1959-09-17

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:17:40.201596

Geography

Bering Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea