Historical Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles from VRYSTAAT Cruise

Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean temperature-depth profiles collected by the vessel VRYSTAAT using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT). The dataset contains observations from a single cruise spanning 1957-05-19 to 1957 06-23, processed into the NODC standard C128 format. Data originates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is archived by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to ~285m) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying historical ocean conditions during the 1957 cruise period using reported date, position, and time.
• Comparing early mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data with modern sensor measurements.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot from a specific research cruise over a 35-day period in 1957.
• Temperature values are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating analysis.

Limitations

• Instrument limits data to the upper ocean (~285m maximum depth), excluding deeper thermal structure.
• Exact row count, file size, and column names are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2026-03-05 on Data.gov vs. 1957-06-23 on NASA Earthdata).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC to C128 format.

Time Range

1957-05-19 to 1957-06-23

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:58:47.038168

Geography

Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean