Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from the WHITBY Expedition

7600302 is a processed dataset of mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations from the R/V WHITBY. It contains temperature-depth profile pairs recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals, capturing the thermal structure of the upper ocean layers during a 1963 cruise. The data was standardized by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m depth) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal or regional oceanographic conditions in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean during early 1963.
• Validating or calibrating historical ocean model simulations with in-situ profile data.
• Investigating cruise-based observational patterns using reported date, position, and time metadata.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Profiles provide high vertical resolution with temperature recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Covers a specific three-month cruise (January to April 1963) across multiple ocean basins.

Limitations

• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.
• Key metadata such as exact row count, column names, and license are unavailable from the provided sources.
• Data freshness is conflicted: one source lists a 2026 update while another indicates the data is from 1963.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), originating from a WHITBY cruise.

Collection Method

Mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument measurements processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-01-20 to 1963-04-18

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:32:40.857196

Geography

Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean