USS Maury Bathythermograph Profiles from the North Pacific in 1962

North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea temperature-depth profiles collected by the USS Maury using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) from May 16 to May 30, 1962. The dataset contains processed observations formatted to the NODC C128 standard, with data points recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals. It was processed and published by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying spatial temperature gradients across the North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea.
• Investigating diurnal or short-term thermal variability during the two-week cruise period.
• Using cruise information, date, position, and time metadata to contextualize historical oceanographic conditions.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a recognized standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a continuous two-week cruise in May 1962.
• Temperature observations are recorded at a uniform 5-meter depth interval, facilitating profile comparison.

Limitations

• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• The dataset's age (1962) may present challenges for integration with modern digital formats or metadata standards.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the USS Maury and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1962-05-16 to 1962-05-30

Freshness

2026-04-01 14:59:40.932238

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea