South Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from ST JUDE Cruises

South Pacific Ocean bathythermograph data from the research vessel ST JUDE, covering a period from October 1962 to August 1964. The dataset contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format. These observations are limited to the upper ocean layers, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal or interannual temperature changes in the upper ocean using the paired temperature-depth values.
• Mapping the thermal structure of the South Pacific Ocean by correlating temperature profiles with reported cruise date, position, and time.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model simulations for the upper 285 meters using historical in-situ measurements.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistency.
• Provides a nearly two-year time series (1962-10-16 to 1964-08-02) from a specific vessel.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating analysis.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and file size are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 on datagov vs. 1964-08-02 on nasa_earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1962-10 16 to 1964-08-02

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:34:45.654745

Geography

South Pacific Ocean