Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the 1959 PUMA Expedition

1959-02-09 to 1959 06-03 temperature-depth profiles from the PUMA expedition in the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean. Data is processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format, recording pairs of temperature and depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. This dataset is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal stratification of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal oceanographic changes in the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean for a specific cruise.
• Validating or calibrating models of historical sea surface temperature and subsurface heat content.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of ocean temperature during the 1959 PUMA expedition using reported position data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from February to June 1959 for a defined research cruise.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: 'last updated' is reported as 2026-03-05 on Data.gov but 1959-06-03 on NASA Earthdata.
• Core dataset attributes like row count, file size, column names, and license are unknown across all platforms.
• Instrument limitation: Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) data is only useful for the upper ocean layers (~285m max depth).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profile data obtained using the mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument, processed by NODC.

Time Range

1959-02-09 to 1959-06-03

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:24:28.229417

Geography

Gulf of Guinea, North Atlantic Ocean, and South Atlantic Ocean