Ocean Island Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles 1957-1959

Mechanical bathythermograph data from Ocean Island in the South Pacific Ocean, capturing temperature-depth profiles of the upper ocean layers. The dataset contains observations from August 1957 to August 1959, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. It was collected and published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean up to 285 meters depth using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal or interannual temperature changes near Ocean Island from 1957 to 1959.
• Correlating temperature profiles with reported cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Using the uniformly recorded 5-meter depth interval data for model validation of historical ocean surface layers.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128) ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a focused two-year time series (1957-08-16 to 1959-08-09) from a specific location.
• Temperature data is recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating comparative analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• The mechanical bathythermograph instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date, with one showing 2026-03 05 and another showing the original collection end date of 1959-08-09.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1957-08-16 to 1959-08-09

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:57:40.945469

Geography

Ocean Island, South Pacific Ocean