Historical Bathythermograph Temperature Profiles from O'BRIEN Cruise

NODC processed bathythermograph (MBT) data from the O'BRIEN cruise in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Observations cover a specific period from March 31 to April 23, 1967.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying spatial temperature variation across the Philippine Sea and South China Sea using position data.
• Examining short-term temporal changes in sea temperature during the late March to late April 1967 cruise period.
• Using cruise, date, position, and time metadata to contextualize historical oceanographic observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.
• Dataset provides precise temporal coverage for a 24-day cruise in 1967.
• Cross-platform presence on U.S. government data portals indicates recognized archival importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts data to the upper ocean (max ~285m depth).
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-01 vs. 1967-04-23), creating uncertainty about recent modifications.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to its C128 standard format.

Time Range

1967-03 31 to 1967-04-23

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:28:42.949369

Geography

Philippine Sea and South China Sea