USS REXBURG Historical Bathythermograph Profiles in the North Pacific

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the USS REXBURG provides temperature-depth profiles for the upper ocean layers in the North Pacific Ocean. The dataset covers a specific cruise from December 15 to December 21, 1967, and has been processed into the NODC standard C128 format by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying short-term ocean temperature variability during a specific December 1967 cruise using date, time, and position columns.
• Comparing historical in-situ bathythermograph data with modern satellite-derived sea surface temperature products.
• Providing a validation dataset for regional ocean models of the North Pacific's mixed layer.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context with reported cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• The dataset is limited to the upper ocean, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Critical metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from the provided sources.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata: Data.gov lists 2026-04-01, while NASA Earthdata lists the original collection date of 1967-12-21.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1967-12-15 to 1967-12-21

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:00:27.481733

Geography

North Pacific Ocean