NODC Standard Format Radio Message Bathythermograph (IBT/C110) Data (1972-1991) (NCEI Accession 9500109)

This collection contains temperature, depth, and other data collected using bathythermograph (BT/XBT) casts from numerous platforms in oceans and seas around the world from 1972-01-01 to 1991-01-01. Data were processed by NODC to the NODC Radio Message Bathythermograph (IBT/C110) data format.

The IBT (C110) format is used for telecommunicated bathythermograph (principally XBT) data transmitted by ships at sea over the Global Telecommunications System in the Integrated Global Ocean Services System (IGOSS) BATHY format. These data are accumulated and transmitted to NODC from two U.S. operational centers: the NOAA National Meteorological Center (NMC) and the U.S. Navy Fleet Numerical Oceanography Center (FNOC). Like XBT data, IBT data temperature values are recorded at inflection point depths. The BATHY radio message allows for a limited number of depth-temperature pairs to be reported, however. Therefore, compared to delayed-mode XBT data, IBT data present a coarser representation of ocean temperature profiles.