North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from Mechanical Bathythermographs

North Pacific Ocean data contains temperature-depth profiles from mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments, processed to the NODC C128 standard. The dataset covers a period from October 1946 to February 1947, collected by United States platforms. It is maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal ocean temperature variation in the North Pacific using cruise date and position data.
• Validating historical ocean models with instrument-calibrated temperature readings at 5-meter depth intervals.
• Mapping early post-war oceanographic survey patterns from reported cruise information and time.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128) ensuring consistent structure.
• Temperature readings are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.
• Each observation includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like row count, file size, and complete column list are unavailable from all sources.
• The instrument's maximum depth of ~285 meters limits analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1947-02-03), creating provenance uncertainty.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1946-10-30 to 1947-02-03

Freshness

2026-03 05 22:55:11.712520

Geography

North Pacific Ocean