Ocean Temperature Profiles from the O'BRIEN Expedition in 1966

Philippine Sea and South China Sea data contains temperature-depth profiles from a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) deployed during the O'BRIEN cruise from February 3-5, 1966. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the C128 standard format, records paired temperature and depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals up to approximately 285 meters. It is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal gradient in the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical ocean conditions in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea using cruise date, position, and time metadata.
• Calibrating or validating models of upper-ocean heat content limited to the top 285 meters.
• Investigating short-term (3-day) oceanic variability during a specific research cruise.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistent structure for temperature-depth pairs.
• Provides precise temporal (3-day) and geographic (Philippine Sea, South China Sea) scope for the observations.
• Recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis of the water column.

Limitations

• Instrument maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Key metadata such as row count, file size, license, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Data freshness is conflicted: one source lists a last update in 2026, while another lists the original collection date in 1966.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-02-03 to 1966-02-05

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:48:48.475569

Geography

Philippine Sea and South China Sea