NOAA Ship Delaware II North Atlantic Temperature Profiles 1980

Bathythermograph (XBT) data from a NOAA research cruise in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at non-uniform inflection points to define the ocean's thermal curve. It was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C116 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature gradients in the North Atlantic using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying ocean thermal structure variability from inflection point data rather than uniform depth intervals.
• Researching NOAA's historical data collection methods from ship-based XBT instruments.
• Validating or extending time-series models of ocean heat content for a specific region and period.

Strengths

• Data processed to a documented NODC standard format (C116/C118).
• Specific time range provided for the cruise: May 25 to June 10, 1980.
• Includes detailed metadata on instrument capabilities (profiles to 450m, 760m, or 1830m).

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown.
• Conflicting freshness: DataGov lists a 2026 metadata update, while NASA Earthdata lists the data date as 1980-06-10.
• Limited temporal scope covering only a single 17-day cruise.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from NOAA Ship Delaware II.

Collection Method

Collected using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments during a research cruise and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1980-05-25 to 1980-06-10

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:29:22.712171 (DataGov metadata update)

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean