North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1971 Cruise

March 10-25, 1971 temperature-depth profiles collected by a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) aboard the NOAA Ship Albatross IV in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains processed observations formatted to the NODC standard C128 format, focusing on the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers down to approximately 285 meters. Data is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) for a specific time and region.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in the North Atlantic during early spring 1971.
• Validating or supplementing historical ocean model reanalyses with in-situ profile data.
• Examining cruise-based observational methods and data formats (NODC C128) from the 1970s.

Strengths

• Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a 16-day cruise in March 1971.
• Data is processed to a standardized archival format (NODC C128).
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, enabling consistent vertical analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable.
• Instrument maximum depth is ~285m, limiting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• No license information is provided, which may restrict certain uses.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1971-03-10 to 1971-03-25

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:27:30.306076

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean (specific cruise track of NOAA Ship Albatross IV)