IMOS XBT: Ocean Temperature Profiles from Ships of Opportunity

Delayed-mode ocean temperature and depth profiles collected by the IMOS Ships of Opportunity Expendable Bathythermographs Sub-Facility. The data cover the Indian, Southern, and Pacific Oceans, collected via five high-resolution transects repeated four times per year by on-board technicians using commercial vessel traffic. Data are provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network, with a last update recorded as 2026-05-05.

Use Cases

• Analyzing mesoscale ocean eddies based on high-resolution, boundary-to-boundary transects.
• Studying seasonal variability of boundary currents based on quarterly repeated sampling.
• Modeling ocean heat content and thermal structure based on temperature-depth profiles.

Strengths

• Data collection follows a structured program with five major high-resolution (HRX) transects.
• Sampling is repeated four times per year, providing regular temporal coverage.
• Transects are designed to resolve mesoscale features like eddies and fronts.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified as the last update is in the future (2026-05-05).

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network (AODN) via the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS).

Collection Method

Collected via Expendable Bathythermographs (XBTs) deployed from commercial vessels (Ships of Opportunity) by on-board technicians.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 10:25:08.536861; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, Pacific Ocean.