USS VESOLE XBT Temperature Profiles from the Black Sea

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data contains bathythermograph (XBT) temperature-depth profiles collected by the USS VESOLE. The dataset covers a specific cruise in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara from March 9 to 14, 1975. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C116 format, recording pairs of temperature and depth values at inflection points.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature structure in the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying short-term oceanic variability during a specific cruise in March 1975.
• Comparing historical XBT data collection methods (inflection points) with modern profiling techniques.
• Investigating regional hydrography of semi-enclosed seas using geospatial position and time data.

Strengths

• Data processed to a documented NODC standard format (C116) for consistency.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a specific 6-day cruise in March 1975.
• Records temperature at non-uniform inflection points to accurately define the temperature curve.
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov indicates formal archival and importance.

Limitations

• Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are unknown from available sources.
• Sources conflict on last updated date: Data.gov lists 2026-04-01, while NASA Earthdata lists the original collection date of 1975-03 14.
• Limited to a single, short-duration cruise from 1975, reducing generalizability.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected using expendable bathythermograph (XBT) instruments from the USS VESOLE and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1975-03-09 to 1975-03-14

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:12:58.468655

Geography

Black Sea and Sea of Marmara