Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from Sagami-Maru Voyage

Temperature-depth profiles were collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) during the SAGAMI-MARU cruise in the North and South Pacific Ocean. The dataset contains pairs of temperature and depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals down to a maximum of approximately 285 meters. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (using temperature-depth value pairs).
• Studying spatial temperature gradients in the Pacific Ocean (using position and date columns).
• Investigating short-term ocean temperature variability during a summer cruise (using date and time columns).
• Calibrating or validating models of historical upper-ocean heat content (using temperature data at 5m intervals).

Strengths

• Data is structured to a known standard format (NODC C128) ensuring consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific research cruise from July 1 to September 16, 1961.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform depth intervals (5 meters) facilitating analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and column names are unavailable from all sources.
• The maximum observation depth is limited to approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the ocean's upper layers.
• Sources conflict on the dataset's 'last updated' date (2026-03-05 vs. 1961-09 16).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1961-07-01 to 1961-09-16

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:44:56.035340

Geography

North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean