bathythermograph

From Glossary of Meteorology
(Abbreviated BT.) A device for obtaining, from a ship under way, a record of temperature against depth (strictly speaking, pressure) in the upper 300 m of the ocean.

For a thermal element it has a xylene-filled copper coil, which actuates a stylus through a Bourdon tube. The pressure element is a copper aneroid capsule that moves a smoked glass slide at right angles to the motion of the stylus. A double analog record is thus obtained as the BT is lowered and recovered. This device has generally been replaced by the expendable bathythermograph (XBT).

Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact [email protected]. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.