Historical Ocean Temperature Profiles from YAQUINA Cruise

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the YAQUINA research vessel captures temperature-depth profiles in the upper ocean layers. The dataset covers a specific cruise in the Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska, British Columbia, and the North Pacific Ocean during July and August 1970. It was processed and standardized by the National Oceanographic Data Center.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m) using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying coastal oceanographic conditions off Southeast Alaska and British Columbia using cruise position and time data.
• Investigating seasonal temperature variations in July-August 1970 using observations recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals.
• Validating regional ocean models with historical in-situ temperature profile data.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Temperature observations are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating systematic analysis.
• Each profile includes associated metadata: cruise information, date, position, and time.

Limitations

• The maximum observation depth is approximately 285 meters, limiting analysis to the ocean's upper layers only.
• Exact row count, column names, and dataset size are not provided by any source.
• There is a conflict in 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026 vs. 1970), casting doubt on maintenance history.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Data gathered using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC to the C128 format.

Time Range

1970-07 17 to 1970-08-24

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:47:49.241563

Geography

Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, North Pacific Ocean