Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from USS Rogers Bathythermograph

285 meters is the maximum depth of observations from this mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) dataset. It contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals from the USS Rogers across the East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) processed this data into its standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal or interannual temperature variability in the upper 285m of the ocean from 1948-1956.
• Mapping the thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical data collection methods via the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument.
• Correlating cruise information, date, position, and time with observed temperature profiles.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a clear temporal range of nearly eight years, from 1948-06 03 to 1956-04-16.
• Spatial coverage is specific, detailing operations in four distinct sea regions.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• The maximum observation depth of ~285m limits analysis to the ocean's upper thermal structure only.
• A conflict exists in 'last updated' metadata between a 2026 administrative date and the 1956 end date for the observations.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1948-06-03 to 1956 04-16

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:58:32.748470

Geography

East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea.