Historical Bathythermograph Temperature Profiles from the North Pacific

Temperature-depth profiles collected using Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments aboard the WINDWARD vessel. The dataset covers the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and North Pacific Ocean from April 1959 to September 1961. Data was processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) into the standard C128 format.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using temperature-depth value pairs.
• Studying seasonal or interannual temperature changes in the North Pacific between 1959 and 1961 using date and time columns.
• Mapping regional ocean temperature patterns using reported position (latitude/longitude) data.
• Correlating cruise information with temperature profiles for specific research expedition analysis.

Strengths

• Data is standardized in the NODC C128 format, ensuring consistent structure for temperature-depth profiles.
• Provides a focused temporal snapshot of ocean conditions over a 2.5-year period from 1959 to 1961.
• Covers a specific geographic region including the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and North Pacific Ocean.

Limitations

• Key metadata conflicts exist: the last update date is listed as 2026-03-05 on Data.gov but 1961-09-09 on NASA EarthData.
• Core descriptive details like row count, file size, column names, and license are unavailable from all sources.
• MBT instrument maximum depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Collected via Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instruments and processed by NODC to the C128 standard format.

Time Range

1959-04-24 to 1961-09-09

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:35:00.106717

Geography

Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, North Pacific Ocean