USS Baussell Historical Bathythermograph Profiles from 1949-1959
Updated 3mo ago
15files
Available on 2 platforms
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Description
Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the USS Baussell provides temperature-depth profiles for the upper ocean layers across the Coral Sea, East China Sea, Japan Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean, and Tasman Sea. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format, contains observations recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters. It covers a decade of measurements from December 9, 1949, to October 10, 1959.
Use Cases
Analyzing historical upper ocean thermal stratification using paired temperature-depth values.
Studying spatial variability of sea surface temperatures and subsurface layers across multiple western Pacific basins.
Investigating decadal-scale temperature trends in the upper 285 meters of the ocean from the late 1940s to late 1950s.
Validating or supplementing ocean model reconstructions for the mid-20th century using cruise-based profile data.
Strengths
Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
Provides a decade-long temporal record from 1949 to 1959.
Covers a wide geographic area across eight major sea regions in the western Pacific.
Observations are recorded at a consistent, high-resolution 5-meter depth interval.
Limitations
Instrument limitation restricts maximum observation depth to approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean thermal structure.
Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and file size are unavailable from the provided sources.
There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata between platforms, with one showing 2026 and another showing 1959.
Provenance
Source
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from USS Baussell cruises.
Collection Method
Temperature-depth profiles gathered using the Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.
Time Range
1949-12-09 to 1959-10-10
Freshness
2026-03-05 23:24:17.724496
Geography
Coral Sea, East China Sea, Japan Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea
License information is not provided in the available metadata. The dataset's presence on multiple platforms (Data.gov and NASA Earthdata) indicates its archival importance but also highlights metadata inconsistencies.