Introduction

This web site was created to provide easy access to eXpendable BathyThermographs (XBTs) data, XBT-derived products, and other XBT-related scientific and operational information; and to also bring together scientists to highlight the uses of XBT data including upper ocean thermal structure and variability, and ocean current transport.

This site is hosted at NOAA/AOML and contains input from the XBT Science Team members.

The XBT Network

The XBT network consists of transects across all ocean basins where eXpendable BathyThermographs (XBTs) are used to collect temperature observations of the upper 1km of the ocean. Click here for additional information

Meetings

The 6th XBT science team workshop
The 5th Annual IQuOD Workshop

16-20 April, 2018, Oostende, Belgium
The two workshops are brought together to share the state-of-the-art expertise on the historical biases in the records of XBT as well as other temperature instruments to achieve better quality-controlled ocean database and to discuss current science work carried out with XBT observations and present key scientific results obtained using data from the global XBT network. For additional information: [ More information]

Latest XBT deployments
Recent Publications
  • Cheng et al. (2016). XBT Science: Assessment of Instrumental Biases and Errors. Bulletin of the American Meterological Society, 96(6), 924-933, doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-15-00031.1 [link]
  • Boyer et al. (2016). Sensitivity of Global Upper-Ocean Heat Content Estimates to Mapping Methods, XBT Bias Corrections, and Baseline Climatologies. Journal of Climate, 29(13), 4817-4842, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0801.1 [link]
  • Lopez et al. (2016). Decadal Modulations of Interhemispheric Global Atmospheric Circulations and Monsoons by the South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Journal of Climate, 29(5), 1831-1851, doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0491.1 [link]
  • Ciuffardi et al. (2016). Analysis of surface circulation structures along a frequently repeated XBT transect crossing the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian Seas. Ocean Dynamics, 66(6), 767-783, doi: 10.1007/s10236-016-0954-y [link]
  • Bringas et al. (2015). Early dynamics of deep blue XBT probes. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 32(12), 2253-2263, doi: 10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0048.1. [link]