North Atlantic Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from 1957-1958

North Atlantic Ocean temperature-depth profiles collected by the SELLSTROM expedition using mechanical bathythermographs. The dataset contains processed observations from late 1957 to early 1958, formatted to the NODC C128 standard. Data was processed and archived by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Oceanographic Data Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper 285 meters of the North Atlantic Ocean using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal ocean temperature changes from November to March using date and time stamps for each profile.
• Mapping spatial temperature variations using reported cruise position (latitude/longitude) data.
• Investigating historical oceanographic cruise data through recorded cruise information for the SELLSTROM expedition.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot over a 5-month cruise period from 1957-11-09 to 1958-03 28.
• Temperature data is recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating vertical profile comparisons.

Limitations

• Instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Key metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is reported as 2026-03-05 on Data.gov but 1958-03-28 on NASA EarthData.
• Core technical details like row count, file size, column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC).

Time Range

1957-11-09 to 1958-03-28

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:41:32.911001

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean