West Point Bathythermograph Data for Upper Ocean Thermal Structure

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) temperature-depth profiles from the WEST POINT vessel. The dataset contains observations from the Gulf of California, North Pacific Ocean, and South Pacific Ocean, covering a nearly nine-year period from 1957 to 1966. Data is processed into the NODC standard C128 format, recording temperature at uniform 5-meter depth intervals up to approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical temperature-depth profiles in the upper 285 meters of the ocean.
• Studying thermal structure and variability in the Gulf of California and Pacific Ocean regions.
• Validating or supplementing ocean model outputs for the 1957-1966 period using cruise, date, position, and time metadata.
• Investigating seasonal or interannual changes in near-surface ocean heat content.

Strengths

• Data spans a significant temporal range of nearly nine years (1957-11 08 to 1966-08-29).
• Observations are standardized in the NODC C128 format with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Includes precise metadata for each profile: cruise information, date, geographic position, and time.

Limitations

• Row count, total size, and specific column names are unknown across all sources.
• Instrument limitation restricts profiles to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters, capturing only the upper ocean.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' metadata, with one indicating 2026 (likely a catalog update) and another 1966 (original data date).

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Processed by NODC from mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument readings to the standard C128 format.

Time Range

1957-11-08 to 1966-08-29

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:46:05.160823

Geography

Gulf of California, North Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean