Shipboard Ocean Temperature Profiles from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic, 1986-1991

73 sets of bathythermograph (XBT) data collected by the Shipboard Environmental data Acquisition System (SEAS) III program. The data was gathered from 27 different ships, including the SEA-LAND DEFENDER and NOAA Ship DELAWARE II, and transmitted to the National Ocean Service in Rockville, MD. Measurements were taken in the Gulf of Mexico, North Pacific Ocean, and North Atlantic Ocean between October 11, 1986 and November 30, 1991.

Use Cases

• Modeling historical ocean thermal structure based on bathythermograph (XBT) data.
• Analyzing regional temperature variability in the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic.
• Calibrating or validating ocean circulation models using ship-collected profile data.
• Studying decadal changes in upper-ocean heat content from the late 1980s.

Strengths

• 73 distinct data sets provide multiple sampling events.
• Data spans over 5 years from 1986 to 1991.
• Geographic coverage includes three major ocean regions.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last updated 1991-11-30 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI

Collection Method

Data collected via Shipboard Environmental data Acquisition System (SEAS) III program and transmitted via telecommunication.

Time Range

1986-10-11 to 1991-11-30

Freshness

1991-11-30

Geography

Gulf of Mexico, North Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean