Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from USCGC Burton Island

Bathythermograph data records temperature-depth profiles from the USCGC Burton Icebreaker across multiple oceans and seas. The dataset covers a 19-year period from 1947 to 1966, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into a standard format. Each observation includes cruise metadata, position, time, and paired temperature readings at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying historical ocean conditions in specific regions like the Arctic Ocean or Beaufort Sea using reported position and date columns.
• Investigating seasonal or interannual temperature variability from 1947 to 1966 using the time-series data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean models with in-situ temperature profile observations.

Strengths

• Data spans a 19-year time range (1947-11-01 to 1966-03-11), providing a long-term observational record.
• Coverage includes multiple major ocean basins (e.g., Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic, Southern Oceans) and specific seas.
• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Temperature readings are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and file size are unknown across all platforms.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date between platforms (2026-03 06 vs. 1966-03-11), creating uncertainty about recent modifications.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to the C128 format.

Time Range

1947-11-01 to 1966-03-11

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:12:18.711910

Geography

Arctic Ocean, Beaufort Sea, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Indian Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean