USS Lofberg Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles 1951-1960

Approximately 285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature-depth profiles collected by the USS Lofberg using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT). The dataset contains processed observations from the East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, and Philippine Sea, formatted to the NODC C128 standard. Data points are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, providing a systematic record of upper ocean thermal structure over a nine-year period.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical upper ocean temperature gradients using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying seasonal or interannual thermal variability in the East China Sea from 1951-1960.
• Validating ocean model simulations of the upper 285 meters with in-situ profile data.
• Mapping the spatial distribution of near-surface ocean temperatures from cruise-based observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a consistent standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural uniformity.
• Observations span a nine-year time range (1951-08 07 to 1960-05-10), providing a multi-year record.
• Each profile includes associated metadata such as cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts data usefulness to the upper ocean layers, with a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Provenance

Source

NOAA_NCEI (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information).

Collection Method

Temperature-depth profiles gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the USS Lofberg and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1951-08-07 to 1960-05-10

Freshness

2026-03-06 00:15:45.617563

Geography

East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea