Dive profile

A dive profile is a description of a diver's pressure exposure. It may be as simple as just a depth and time pair, as in: "sixty for twenty," (a stay of 20 minutes at a depth of 60 feet) or as complex as a second by second graphical representation of depth and time.

It is useful as an indication of the risks of decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity and also the volume of open-circuit breathing gas needed for a planned dive as these depend in part upon the depth and duration of the dive. A dive profile diagram is often drawn with time running from left to right and depth increasing down the page.

Planning and monitoring decompression

For planning and monitoring of nitrogen absorption, the data usually consists of the maximum depth reached during the dive and the length of time underwater. For repetitive dives it also includes the "surface interval", or the time spent above the water between the previous dive and the start of the current dive. This information is used to estimate the levels of residual nitrogen build-up in the diver's tissues during and after completing a dive or series of dives.