Oceanographic station data were collected from the WINONA within a 1-mile radius of Ocean Weather Station N (3000N 14000W) and in transit. Data were collected by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) from 24 December 1969 to 12 January 1970. Data were processed by NODC to the NODC standard Station Data II Output Format (SD2). Full format description is available from NODC at www.nodc.noaa.gov/General/NODC-Archive/sd2.html.

The SD2 format contains physical-chemical oceanographic data recorded at discrete depth levels. Most of the observations were made using multi-bottle Nansen casts or other types of water samplers. A small amount (about 5 percent) were obtained using electronic CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) or STD (salinity-temperature-depth) recorders. The CTD/STD data were reported to NODC at depth levels equivalent to Nansen cast data, however, and have been processed and stored the same as the Nansen data. Cruise information (e.g., ship, country, institution), position, date, and time, and reported for each station. The principal measured parameters and temperature and salinity , but dissolved oxygen, phosphate, total phosphorus, silicate, nitrate, nitrite, and pH may be reported. Meteorological conditions at the time of the cast (e.g., air temperature and pressure, wind, waves) may also be reported, as well as auxiliary data such as water color (Forel-Ule scale), water transparency (Secchi disk depth), and depth to bottom. Values of density (sigma-t) sound velocity, and dynamic depth anomaly are computed from measured parameters. Each station contains the measurements taken at the observed depth levels, but also includes data values interpolated to a set of standard depth levels.