Sulu Sea Upper Ocean Thermal Profiles from O'Brien Cruise

285 meters is the maximum observation depth for this dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) readings. It contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals from the vessel O'BRIEN in the Sulu Sea between June 3 and June 7, 1964. The data was processed and formatted to the NODC standard C128 format by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the Sulu Sea's upper ocean layer using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying short-term thermal variability from June 3-7, 1964, using time-stamped profile data.
• Investigating spatial patterns of near-surface ocean heat content using cruise position data.
• Benchmarking historical ocean conditions against modern observations from the same region.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistency.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot over 5 consecutive days in June 1964.
• Profiles have a defined vertical resolution, with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, specific column names, and license are unknown across all sources.
• Instrument limitation: MBT data is useful only for studying the upper ocean thermal structure, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• The dataset's age (1964) may limit direct comparability with modern, higher-resolution observations.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI / NODC

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel O'BRIEN and processed to NODC standard format.

Time Range

1964-06-03 to 1964-06-07

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:32:06.269355

Geography

Sulu Sea