North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from O'Brien Cruise

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the O'Brien cruise in the North Pacific Ocean, collected from July 16 to July 24, 1963. The dataset consists of temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying spatial and temporal variability of ocean temperature during a specific July 1963 cruise.
• Providing historical baseline data for climate change studies in the North Pacific region.
• Validating or calibrating oceanographic models with in-situ mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations.

Strengths

• Data is formatted to a recognized standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a 9-day period in July 1963.
• Includes core metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Instrument limitation: MBT data is only useful for the upper ocean layers, with a maximum depth of ~285m.
• Conflicting freshness: One platform lists a 2026 update (likely metadata), while another lists the 1963 collection date as the last update.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from the O'Brien cruise.

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1963-07 16 to 1963-07-24

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:57:39.043329

Geography

North Pacific Ocean