ZVEZDA Ship Upper Ocean Temperature Profiles 1963-1964

Mechanical bathythermograph data from the ZVEZDA vessel captures temperature-depth profiles of the upper ocean layers in the North and South Atlantic. The dataset, processed by the National Oceanographic Data Center into the standard C128 format, contains observations from March 1963 to August 1964. Each record includes cruise information, date, position, time, and paired temperature-depth values at uniform 5-meter intervals.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the thermal structure of the upper ocean (up to 285m depth) using temperature-depth pairs.
• Studying seasonal or spatial temperature variations in the Atlantic Ocean using geospatial and temporal coordinates.
• Calibrating or validating historical ocean model outputs with in-situ bathythermograph observations.

Strengths

• Data is processed to a standardized NODC format (C128), ensuring consistent structure.
• Provides specific temporal coverage from 1963-03-28 to 1964-08-01.
• Records data at uniform 5-meter depth intervals, facilitating profile analysis.

Limitations

• Multiple sources conflict on core metadata: row count, column names, size, and license are all listed as unknown or 'None'.
• Limited to the upper ocean with a maximum observation depth of approximately 285 meters.
• The dataset's age (1960s) may limit its utility for studying contemporary ocean processes.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), from the ZVEZDA vessel.

Collection Method

Collected using a mechanical bathythermograph (MBT) instrument and processed by NODC.

Time Range

1963-03-28 to 1964-08-01

Freshness

2026-04-01 15:18:48.115253

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean