Historical North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from WATCHMAN

Approximately 285 meters is the maximum depth for temperature measurements in this dataset. It contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) data collected by the WATCHMAN vessel in the North Pacific Ocean, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into its standard C128 format. The data spans from August 1960 to September 1963.

Use Cases

• Analyzing seasonal temperature changes in the North Pacific upper ocean (0-285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Mapping historical cruise tracks and sampling locations using reported position, date, and time for each observation.
• Studying the vertical thermal gradient of the ocean's surface layer with data recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Calibrating or validating ocean model simulations for the early 1960s period with in-situ profile data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a documented standard format (NODC C128), ensuring structural consistency.
• Provides a multi-year time series covering over three years of observations from 1960 to 1963.
• Includes core metadata for each profile: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• Key quantitative details like total row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable from all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts data to the upper ocean only, with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with dates ranging from 1963 to 2026.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument from the vessel WATCHMAN and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1960-08-03 to 1963-09-08

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:05:59.870864

Geography

North Pacific Ocean