Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from USS Higbee Voyages

Temperature-depth profiles from the USS Higbee collected using Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments across multiple seas and oceans. The dataset contains observations from 1948 to 1968, processed into the NODC standard C128 format with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals. Data collection was managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature across the listed seas and oceans.
• Investigating historical ocean conditions using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata.
• Calibrating or validating models of upper ocean heat content over a multi-decadal period.

Strengths

• Data spans a 20-year time range from 1948-08-08 to 1968-03-30, providing a long-term view.
• Observations cover a wide geographic area across 13 listed seas and oceans in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• Data is standardized in the NODC C128 format with temperature recorded at consistent 5-meter depth intervals.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts: row count, column names, size, and license are unknown across all sources.
• Instrument limitation: MBT maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Data freshness is unclear due to conflicting 'last updated' dates (2026-04-01 vs. 1968-03-30).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments aboard the USS Higbee and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1948-08 08 to 1968-03-30

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:14:58.712415

Geography

Andaman Sea, Burma Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, East China Sea, Great Australian Bight, Indian Ocean, Japan Sea, Laccadive Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, South Pacific Ocean, Yellow Sea.