Ocean Pride Historical Temperature-Depth Profiles in Gulf of Alaska

NOAA NCEI provides bathythermograph (MBT) data from the vessel OCEAN PRIDE, collected in the Gulf of Alaska and North Pacific Ocean. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format between June 1961 and June 1963.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal or interannual temperature variability in the Gulf of Alaska from 1961 to 1963.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature profiles.
• Validating or supplementing models of historical ocean surface layer conditions.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides a continuous two-year time series (1961-06-17 to 1963-06-23) for temporal analysis.
• Temperature data is recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating straightforward vertical analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unavailable across all sources.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument limits observations to the upper ~285 meters of the ocean.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-03-05 vs. 1963-06-23), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from the vessel OCEAN PRIDE.

Collection Method

Data gathered using mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1961-06-17 to 1963-06-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:48:22.164317

Geography

Gulf of Alaska and North Pacific Ocean