Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from USS Duncan Bathythermograph
Updated 3mo ago
15files
Available on 2 platforms
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Description
1949-01 1960-03 temperature-depth profiles collected by the USS Duncan using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument. The dataset covers the East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, and Tasman Sea, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. Each observation includes cruise information, date, position, and time, with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters.
Use Cases
Analyzing historical upper-ocean thermal structure using temperature-depth value pairs.
Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature in the Pacific and adjacent seas.
Validating or calibrating ocean model reconstructions for the mid-20th century using precise date, position, and time metadata.
Researching oceanographic conditions during specific USS Duncan cruises between 1949 and 1960.
Strengths
Provides a consistent 11-year time series from 1949 to 1960 for analyzing decadal changes.
Data is processed to a known standard (NODC C128 format) ensuring structured temperature-depth pairs.
Includes precise geospatial and temporal metadata (cruise, date, position, time) for each profile.
Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating comparative analysis.
Limitations
Key metadata conflicts exist: the last updated date is reported as both 2026-03-05 (datagov) and 1960-03-22 (nasa_earthdata).
Dataset is limited to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
Specific row counts, file sizes, column names, and license information are unavailable from all sources.
Provenance
Source
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce
Collection Method
Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC to the C128 format.
Time Range
1949-01-06 to 1960-03-22
Freshness
2026-03-05 23:19:30.237237
Geography
East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea
License information is not provided. The dataset's utility is confined to studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers due to instrument depth limitations.