USNS Maurice Rose Bathythermograph Data from the North Atlantic

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the USNS Maurice Rose documents temperature-depth profiles in the North Atlantic Ocean. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the C128 standard format, covers a cruise period from November 29, 1959, to February 4, 1960. It provides paired temperature and depth measurements at uniform 5-meter intervals, useful for studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal or spatial variability in North Atlantic surface waters during the late 1950s/early 1960s using cruise date, position, and time data.
• Calibrating or validating historical ocean model reanalyses with precisely measured in-situ temperature profiles recorded at 5m intervals.
• Researching the methodology and data formats of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instruments through the standardized C128 record structure.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known, documented standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring consistency.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1959-11-29 to 1960-02-04 for a defined research cruise.
• Measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis of the water column.
• The dataset's presence on multiple government platforms (Data.gov, NASA Earthdata) indicates vetting and archival importance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all provided sources.
• The mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument has a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters, limiting study to the upper ocean only.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2026-04-01 on Data.gov vs. 1960-02-04 on NASA Earthdata), creating uncertainty about metadata freshness.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), specifically NCEI Accession 5900071.

Collection Method

Data gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument during a cruise by the USNS Maurice Rose and subsequently processed by NODC.

Time Range

1959-11-29 to 1960-02-04

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:16:35.489423

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean (specific cruise track coordinates not provided in sources).