Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the PANAMINT Expedition

285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature observations in this dataset, which contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data from the PANAMINT expedition. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) processed the data into its standard C128 format, covering the North Pacific Ocean, Solomon Sea, and South Pacific Ocean. Observations were recorded between January 28 and March 20, 1945.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) in the Pacific during early 1945.
• Studying temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.
• Correlating historical ocean conditions with cruise information, date, position, and time for each cast.
• Providing a baseline for comparing post-World War II ocean temperature data in the Solomon Sea and South Pacific.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Temperature values are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating systematic analysis.
• Provides a specific temporal snapshot from a 52-day expedition in early 1945.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, file size, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, excluding deeper ocean layers.
• Sources disagree on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-01 vs. 1945-03-20), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from the PANAMINT expedition.

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument casts, processed by NODC.

Time Range

1945-01 28 to 1945-03-20

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:23:38.390436

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, Solomon Sea, South Pacific Ocean