North Atlantic Ocean Temperature Profiles from NOAA Ships

August to September 1983 temperature-depth profiles collected via expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from NOAA Ship Albatross IV and NOAA Ship Delaware II in the North Atlantic Ocean. The data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C116 format, which stores paired temperature-depth values at non-uniform inflection points. This dataset represents a specific historical cruise series archived by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature gradients in the North Atlantic using paired temperature-depth columns.
• Studying short-term oceanic thermal variability during late summer 1983 using time-series data linked to cruise dates.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model outputs with in-situ historical profile data from specific ship tracks.
• Researching expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data collection methodologies and the C116 data format structure.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C116) ensuring structured consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1983-08-09 to 1983-09-04 for focused historical analysis.
• Includes detailed metadata on collection method (XBT) and instrument depth capabilities (450m, 760m, or 1830m).

Limitations

• Key structural metadata like row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all sources.
• The dataset's presence on multiple platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) suggests importance but also highlights incomplete metadata replication.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments deployed from NOAA research vessels.

Time Range

1983-08-09 to 1983-09-04

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:11:21.113115

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean