Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from QUADRANT Expedition

The Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and Tasman Sea are covered by this dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations. It contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum of 285 meters. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) processed this data, collected during the QUADRANT expedition from April 1955 to March 1956.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (0-285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal temperature changes in specific regions like the Coral Sea between 1955 and 1956.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature profiles for expedition analysis.
• Providing a historical baseline for comparison with modern upper ocean temperature data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency.
• Provides a precise one-year temporal coverage from 1955-04-12 to 1956-03 31.
• Covers multiple major ocean regions: Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and Tasman Sea.

Limitations

• The dataset's exact row count, file size, and specific column names are unknown.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to the upper ocean (max ~285m), excluding deeper water columns.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (2026-04-01 vs. 1956-03-31).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to C128 format.

Time Range

1955-04-12 to 1956-03-31

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:53:59.214082

Geography

Coral Sea, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, Tasman Sea