Ship-Based Water Temperature Profiles from the Gulf of Mexico, 1990

Ship Sedco/BP 471 collected water temperature data at varying depths in the Gulf of Mexico between September 1, 1990 and October 6, 1990. Texas A&M University recorded real-time bathythermograph (XBT) data on stripcharts, which were later digitized into the NODC C116 file format. The data was submitted to the National Oceanographic Data Center by Mr. Vernon L. Rockwell.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical ocean temperature structure based on bathythermograph (XBT) data.
• Studying seasonal thermal changes in the Gulf of Mexico based on the September-October 1990 time range.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model outputs based on historical in-situ temperature measurements.
• Researching oceanographic data digitization processes based on the conversion from analog stripcharts.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 36-day period from September 1 to October 6, 1990.
• Original analog stripcharts were digitized, making the data machine-readable.
• Data collection is attributed to a specific research vessel (Sedco/BP 471) and institution (Texas A&M University).

Limitations

• Last updated 1990-10-06 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The spatial coverage is implied but not explicitly defined in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originally from Texas A&M University.

Collection Method

Ship-based data collection using bathythermographs (XBT), recorded on analog stripcharts and later digitized.

Time Range

1990-09-01 to 1990-10-06

Freshness

1990-10-06

Geography

Likely the Gulf of Mexico, based on the operating area of the SEDCO/BP 471 platform.