O'Brien MBT Temperature-Depth Profiles from the North Pacific

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the vessel O'BRIEN captures temperature-depth profiles in the North Pacific Ocean from July 5 to July 14, 1966. The dataset is processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format for mechanical bathythermograph observations. It provides paired temperature and depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals, focusing on the upper ocean layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical oceanographic conditions in the North Pacific for a specific 10-day cruise.
• Validating or calibrating models of upper ocean heat content using standardized NODC C128 format data.
• Correlating cruise metadata (date, position, time) with observed temperature profiles.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a specific 10-day research cruise in July 1966.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing: total row count, specific column names, and exact file size are unknown.
• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1966-07 14).

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from NODC.

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during the O'BRIEN cruise and processed to NODC standard C128 format.

Time Range

1966-07-05 to 1966-07-14

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:52:41.861160

Geography

North Pacific Ocean