Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from NOAA Ship John N. Cobb

Mechanical bathythermograph data documents ocean temperature-depth profiles from the upper 285 meters of the Gulf of Alaska and North Pacific. The National Oceanographic Data Center processed these observations from NOAA Ship John N. Cobb, spanning over a decade from July 1955 to September 1966. Each profile consists of temperature values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing decadal changes in sea surface temperature and upper ocean heat content using the temperature-depth pairs.
• Mapping the thermal structure of the Gulf of Alaska for historical climate model validation.
• Studying seasonal and interannual variability in the ocean's mixed layer depth from the profile data.
• Correlating cruise-specific oceanographic conditions with other historical environmental records using reported date, position, and time.

Strengths

• Data spans a significant 11-year time range from 1955 to 1966, providing a decadal view.
• Profiles follow a standardized format (NODC C128) with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Cross-platform presence on U.S. government data portals indicates formal curation and archival importance.

Limitations

• Maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Conflicting metadata exists: one platform lists a last updated date of 2026-03-05, while another shows 1966-09-01.
• Specific column names, row counts, file size, and license details are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center to the NODC C128 standard format.

Time Range

1955-07-06 to 1966-09-01

Freshness

2026-03 05 22:44:44.881178

Geography

Gulf of Alaska and North Pacific Ocean