North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from TUXPAM Cruise

Temperature-depth profile data from the TUXPAM cruise in the North Pacific Ocean, collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument. The dataset contains observations processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, covering a five-day period in August 1967. It is hosted by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and is also listed on NASA's Earthdata platform.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying short-term ocean temperature variability during a specific cruise (TUXPAM) in August 1967.
• Validating or calibrating ocean model outputs for the North Pacific region using historical in-situ data.
• Investigating data standardization practices, as records are formatted to the NODC C128 standard with uniform 5-meter depth intervals.

Strengths

• Data is standardized to a known format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Provides precise spatiotemporal context with reported cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Cross-platform presence (NOAA NCEI and NASA Earthdata) indicates recognized importance and curation for the scientific community.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details are missing, including the total number of rows/observations, file size, and specific column names.
• The dataset's utility is limited to studying the upper ocean, as MBT instrument observations have a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03 06 on Data.gov vs. 1967-08-27 on NASA Earthdata), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), collected during the TUXPAM cruise.

Collection Method

In-situ measurements gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1967-08-23 to 1967-08-27

Freshness

2026 03 06 00:19:54.336075

Geography

North Pacific Ocean (specific cruise track for TUXPAM not detailed).