SD TUNA BOAT Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles

NOAA NCEI provides a processed dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) temperature-depth profiles from the research vessel SD TUNA BOAT. It contains observations from 1962 to 1968 across multiple ocean basins, formatted to the NODC C128 standard with data points at uniform 5-meter intervals down to approximately 285 meters. This dataset captures the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers during a specific historical period.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical temperature-depth profiles for the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature and mixed layer depth across the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of California, and Pacific/Atlantic Oceans.
• Validating or initializing regional ocean models with historical in-situ temperature data.
• Investigating cruise-based oceanographic surveys from the 1960s for specific date, position, and time-stamped observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a consistent standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural uniformity.
• Provides a multi-year time series from 1962-03-13 to 1968-04-30 across five distinct ocean regions.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is listed as 2026-04 01 (future) on Data.gov but 1968-04-30 on NASA Earthdata.
• Specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided by any source.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is ~285m, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from NODC processing.

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profiles gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the SD TUNA BOAT research vessel.

Time Range

1962-03-13 to 1968-04-30

Freshness

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Geography

Caribbean Sea, Gulf of California, North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean.