Ocean Temperature Profiles from Gulf of Guinea Cruise

Temperature-depth profile data collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) from the R/V Undaunted in the Gulf of Guinea. The dataset covers a five-day period in April 1968 and has been processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format. It is useful for studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure in the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying diurnal or short-term thermal variability during the April 1968 cruise period.
• Mapping historical oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of Guinea using reported position, date, and time for each profile.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C128).
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, enabling consistent analysis.
• Each observation includes associated metadata such as cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like row count and file size are unknown across all sources.
• The MBT instrument limits observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, restricting analysis to the upper ocean.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the R/V Undaunted and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1968-04-21 to 1968-04-25

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:29:44.180731

Geography

Gulf of Guinea