The Ship Of Opportunity Program (SOOP) – XBT A program of the Ship Observations Team (SOT)

Ms Rebecca Cowley, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Dr Janet Sprintall, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)27 February 2019 20:00 GMT

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Since 1980, the primary objective of SOOP is to fulfil the XBT upper ocean data requirements established by the international scientific and operational communities. Today, 15 agencies are involved in SOOP operations. Data from the XBT survey lines are distributed in near real-time on the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The majority of profiles are available within 24h following automated quality control testing. From almost 50 active XBT ships (mostly container vessels) approximately 12,000 XBTs are launched every year on 33 reference lines, and 2,000 elsewhere. In a typical year, 40% of XBTs are deployed in the Pacific Ocean, 35% in the Atlantic Ocean and 25% in the Indian Ocean.
Data from the global XBT network has been used by many researchers to estimate the near-surface heat content and its variability, assess boundary currents, geostrophic currents and meridional heat transport.More information on the webinar series »
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