Mediterranean Sea Upper Layer Temperature Profiles from 1966

1966-09-25 to 1966-10-11 temperature-depth profiles from the Mediterranean Sea, collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) aboard the SEA QUEEN. The dataset contains pairs of temperature-depth values recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. It captures the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper Mediterranean Sea using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying short-term temperature variability in a specific region during September-October 1966 using time-stamped profiles.
• Investigating historical ocean surface layer conditions using data points recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Validating regional ocean models for the Mediterranean using in-situ temperature profiles with associated cruise, date, position, and time metadata.

Strengths

• Data processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128) ensuring consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1966-09-25 to 1966-10-11 for a focused analysis period.
• Includes core metadata for each observation: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key technical details are unknown, including row count, specific column names, and file size.
• Data is limited to the upper ocean (max depth ~285m), restricting analysis of deeper thermal structures.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2026-03-05 on datagov vs. 1966-10-11 on nasa_earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1966-09-25 to 1966-10-11

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:25:12.206855

Geography

Mediterranean Sea