North Pacific Ocean Temperature Profiles from YAQUINA 1971

North Pacific Ocean temperature-depth profiles collected from the YAQUINA vessel using a Mechanical Bathythermograph (MBT) instrument. The dataset contains processed observations from March 6-8, 1971, formatted to the NODC standard C128 specification. Data is useful for studying the thermal structure of the ocean's upper layers to a maximum depth of approximately 285 meters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing vertical temperature gradients in the upper ocean using paired temperature-depth values.
• Studying short-term thermal variability in a specific North Pacific region from cruise date, position, and time data.
• Calibrating or validating ocean mixed-layer models with historical in-situ measurements recorded at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Strengths

• Data processed to a standardized format (NODC C128) ensuring consistency for analysis.
• Provides precise temporal and spatial context with reported cruise information, date, position, and time for each observation.
• Temperature measurements are recorded at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating straightforward vertical profile construction.

Limitations

• Conflicting metadata exists for the last updated date (2026-03 05 vs. 1971-03-08), creating uncertainty about recent modifications.
• The dataset is limited to a very short time window (3 days) and a single geographic location, reducing generalizability.
• Instrument limitation restricts observations to a maximum depth of ~285m, capturing only the upper ocean thermal structure.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

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

Time Range

1971-03-06 to 1971-03-08

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:31:30.807209

Geography

North Pacific Ocean, from the YAQUINA vessel.