Southern Ocean XBT Temperature Profiles from RV Italica Cruise 2012

Temperature profiles document the thermal structure of the upper Southern Ocean and Southwest Pacific Ocean. Data were collected over six days in January 2012 from the research vessel Italica as part of the Italian National Antarctic Research Programme. The dataset provides a synoptic picture across frontal regions of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the vertical thermal structure of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current frontal regions.
• Studying synoptic temperature variability in the upper 900 meters of the Southern Ocean.
• Calibrating or validating oceanographic models for the Ross Sea and Southwest Pacific sector.
• Investigating water mass properties and heat distribution in a critical polar chokepoint.

Strengths

• High vertical resolution of 65 cm for detailed temperature profiling.
• Quality control performed for consistency between adjacent profiles and via spike editing.
• Systematic spatial sampling at a regular 15-nautical-mile rate across targeted frontal zones.
• Data collection occurred over a concentrated 6-day period, providing a synoptic snapshot.

Limitations

• Column names and exact row count are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (2012-01 19 vs. 2026-03-05), suggesting potential metadata inconsistency.
• The dataset is limited to a single cruise in January 2012, offering no seasonal or long-term perspective.

Provenance

Source

Italian National Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA), Southern Ocean Chokepoints Italian Contribution (SOChIC) project.

Collection Method

Collected using Sippican T7 Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) probes deployed from the research vessel Italica.

Time Range

2012-01-13 to 2012-01-19

Freshness

2026-03-05 22:36:25.068850

Geography

Southern Ocean and Southwest Pacific Ocean, between New Zealand and the Ross Sea.