NOAA Ship Delaware II XBT Temperature-Depth Profiles from 1986

NOAA_NCEI provides bathythermograph (XBT) data collected by NOAA Ship Delaware II in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at non-uniform inflection points, processed to the NODC standard C116 format. Data collection occurred from May 7 to June 20, 1986.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature distribution in the North Atlantic using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying ocean thermal structure changes by examining profiles recorded to depths of 450m, 760m, or 1830m.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models with historical in-situ measurements from a specific cruise.
• Investigating data collection methods by comparing non-uniform XBT inflection points with uniform sampling intervals.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C116).
• Provides a specific temporal focus with a 45-day collection period in 1986.
• Includes detailed metadata on instrument types and measurement depths (450m, 760m, 1830m).

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and column names are unknown.
• Platforms disagree on last updated date: datagov shows 2026-04-01, while nasa_earthdata shows 1986-06 -20.
• License information is not provided.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI

Collection Method

Collected using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from NOAA Ship Delaware II and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1986-05-07 to 1986-06-20

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:21:15.154892

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean