Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from Mechanical Bathythermograph

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data from the SALUTE mission spans from 1963-09-26 to 1968-02 25. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. It covers the upper ocean layers in the Alboran Sea, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and North Atlantic Ocean.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical ocean temperature variability across the Alboran, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and North Atlantic seas.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model reconstructions for the mid-1960s using precise cruise date, position, and time metadata.
• Investigating regional surface layer heat content changes over the five-year observation period.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistency.
• Provides temporal coverage across a five-year period from 1963 to 1968.
• Includes precise metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row counts are not provided by any source, limiting immediate analysis.
• Instrument maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, restricting study to the ocean's upper layers only.
• The last updated date conflicts between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1968-02-25 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profiles gathered using the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-09-26 to 1968-02-25

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:44:12.717876

Geography

Alboran Sea, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean