Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the OMBANGO Cruises

7600002 is a processed dataset containing mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) temperature-depth profiles from the OMBANGO research vessel. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) standardized the data into C128 format, covering a period from February 1963 to May 1965. Observations are limited to the upper 285 meters of the ocean in the Gulf of Guinea and the North and South Atlantic.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Guinea.
• Investigating historical ocean conditions by utilizing standardized cruise information, date, position, and time for each profile.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model outputs for the early 1960s period using in-situ temperature observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating direct comparisons.
• Provides a multi-year time series from 1963 to 1965 across a specific geographic region.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth of ~285m limits analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and license are not provided across sources.
• A conflict exists: one platform lists a 2026 update date, while another suggests the data itself ends in 1965.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-02-17 to 1965-05-08

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:29:26.873955

Geography

Gulf of Guinea, North Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean