Historical North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from NOAA Ship Fairweather

Temperature-depth profiles collected in the North Pacific Ocean using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from the NOAA Ship Fairweather. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the C116/C118 standard format, contains non-uniform depth measurements recorded at inflection points to define the temperature curve. Data collection occurred over a specific cruise from February 21 to March 1, 1973.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure in the North Pacific Ocean for a specific period in 1973.
• Studying the methodology of historical XBT data collection, which recorded measurements at non-uniform inflection points rather than fixed depth intervals.
• Using cruise information, position, date, and time metadata to map the spatial and temporal context of oceanographic observations.
• Comparing this XBT data format (C116/C118) with other contemporary formats like the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) Data File which used uniform 5-meter intervals.

Strengths

• Data processed to a documented NODC standard format (C116/C118) for consistency and interoperability.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1973-02-21 to 1973-03-01 for a defined research cruise.
• Includes detailed metadata for each observation: cruise information, position, date, and time.
• Profiles capture temperature at key inflection points, potentially optimizing data storage while defining the temperature curve.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and complete column schema are unknown from available sources.
• The dataset represents a very short, specific time period (9 days) from a single ship cruise.
• Sources provide conflicting 'last updated' metadata: one lists 2026-03-06, while another lists the collection end date of 1973-03-01.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Data gathered using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from NOAA Ship Fairweather and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1973-02-21 to 1973-03-01

Freshness

2026-03 06 00:23:27.116059

Geography

North Pacific Ocean