USS Orleck Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles 1949-1956

Bathythermograph (MBT) data from the USS Orleck provides temperature-depth profiles for the upper ocean layers. The dataset covers multiple seas in the North Pacific region, including the East China Sea and South China Sea, from August 1949 to April 1956. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying spatial patterns of sea surface temperature across the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and South China Sea.
• Investigating temporal changes in ocean conditions from 1949 to 1956 using cruise date and time metadata.
• Correlating historical ocean temperature profiles with atmospheric data from the same time period.

Strengths

• Data provides consistent measurements at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, enabling standardized analysis.
• Covers a multi-year time range (1949-1956) across four distinct geographic regions in the Pacific.
• Processed and formatted to a recognized standard (NODC C128) by a national agency (NOAA/NODC).

Limitations

• Instrument limitation: maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, restricting analysis to the upper ocean only.
• Critical metadata conflicts: row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Data freshness is unclear; one source lists a 2026 update date, which conflicts with the 1956 end date for collection.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument aboard the USS Orleck and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1949-08 24 to 1956-04-08

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:04:32.440084

Geography

East China Sea, North Pacific Ocean, Philippine Sea, South China Sea