Ocean Temperature Profiles from YAQUINA Cruise in the North Pacific

September 9-15, 1969 data from the YAQUINA cruise in the North Pacific Ocean, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). The dataset contains mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) observations, providing paired temperature and depth measurements at uniform 5-meter intervals to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters. It is published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical temperature gradient in the upper 285 meters of the ocean for a specific week in 1969.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in the North Pacific using cruise-reported date, position, and time for each profile.
• Calibrating or validating ocean mixed-layer models with historical in-situ temperature-depth pairs.
• Investigating the data structure and standards of the historical NODC C128 format for MBT instruments.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a known standard format (NODC C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides precise temporal coverage for a 7-day cruise from September 9 to 15, 1969.
• Measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on U.S. government data portals signals archival importance and reliability.

Limitations

• Key technical details are missing, including the specific column names, row count, and total data size.
• The dataset's utility is confined to the upper ocean, with a maximum observation depth of ~285 meters.
• Conflicting 'last updated' metadata exists between platforms (2026-03-05 vs. 1969-09-15), creating uncertainty about provenance maintenance.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1969-09-09 to 1969-09-15

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:29:37.208414

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, YAQUINA cruise