HMAS Paluma Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles 1966-1967

285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals. This dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations from the HMAS Paluma research cruise in the Coral and Tasman Seas. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration processed the data to the NODC standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean up to 285m depth using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal temperature changes in the Coral and Tasman Seas from 1966 to 1967.
• Correlating ocean surface layer temperature with cruise position, date, and time data.
• Providing historical baseline data for climate model validation in the South Pacific.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides a specific temporal range of observations from September 1966 to June 1967.
• Records temperature at uniform depth intervals (5m), facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: 'datagov' lists a last updated date of 2026-04-01, while 'nasa_earthdata' lists 1967-06-21, creating uncertainty about provenance timing.
• Limited to the upper ocean (max ~285m depth), excluding deeper water column data.
• Core metadata such as row count, file size, column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-09 13 to 1967-06-21

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:55:07.950370

Geography

Coral Sea and Tasman Sea