USS Serrano Bathythermograph Data from the Philippine Sea

Philippine Sea and South China Sea temperature-depth profiles were collected by the USS Serrano using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) from January 23 to 30, 1967. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) processed the data into the standard C128 format, which records temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters. This dataset provides a snapshot of the upper ocean's thermal structure during a specific cruise.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying historical ocean conditions in the Philippine Sea and South China Sea using cruise date, position, and time data.
• Calibrating or validating oceanographic models with instrument-specific MBT profile data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific 8-day cruise in January 1967.
• Contains instrument-specific data with a defined maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, specific column names, and license information are unavailable from all sources.
• Data is limited to the upper ocean layers due to the MBT instrument's maximum depth capability.
• The dataset's age (1967) may limit its applicability for studying contemporary ocean conditions.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), collected from USS Serrano.

Collection Method

Data gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1967-01-23 to 1967-01-30

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:45:09.665777

Geography

Philippine Sea and South China Sea