Historical North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles

NORWALK cruise data contains temperature-depth profiles from the North Atlantic Ocean, specifically from April 12 to May 27, 1966. The dataset was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format for Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) data. Each observation includes cruise information, date, position, time, and paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical oceanographic conditions in the North Atlantic using cruise, date, and position data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models with in-situ temperature profile data from a specific time period.
• Investigating short-term (monthly) variability of sea surface and subsurface temperatures.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context with cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct profile comparisons.

Limitations

• Multiple sources provide no information on the total row count, column names, or dataset size.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, restricting analysis to the upper ocean.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (2026 vs 1966), casting doubt on provenance timestamps.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from the NORWALK cruise.

Collection Method

Data gathered using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-04-12 to 1966-05-27

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:15:08.164185

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean