Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the North Pacific

North Pacific Ocean data contains temperature-depth profiles collected by the vessel NECHES using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument. The dataset was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. It captures the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers over a specific cruise from September 30 to October 3, 1964.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean up to 285 meters depth.
• Studying sea surface temperature and mixed layer characteristics for a specific location and time.
• Investigating historical ocean conditions in the North Pacific region during the 1960s.
• Using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata for spatiotemporal analysis of ocean profiles.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1964-09-30 to 1964-10 03.
• Records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct comparison.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable.
• The MBT instrument's maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1964-10-03 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel NECHES and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1964-09-30 to 1964-10-03

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:52:44.416834

Geography

North Pacific Ocean