North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1966 PRIBILOFF Expedition

January 19 to February 28, 1966, temperature-depth profiles were collected using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) during the PRIBILOFF cruise in the North Pacific Ocean. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, consists of paired temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals. It is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature and sub-surface layers from cruise date, position, and time data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model simulations for the North Pacific region using historical in-situ measurements.
• Investigating oceanographic conditions during a specific winter period (Jan-Feb 1966) in the North Pacific.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides specific temporal coverage for a focused research cruise from January 19 to February 28, 1966.
• Records data at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis of the water column.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing, including row count, file size, and specific column names.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1966-02 28 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-01 19 to 1966-02-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:48:07.623909

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, PRIBILOFF cruise area.