IMOS - Ships of Opportunity – Expendable Bathythermographs - Upper Ocean Thermal Data collected on the line IX9 (Fremantle-Persian Gulf) November 1985 - January 1996.

This dataset contains temperature data from the TOGA/WOCE transect IX9 across the Indian Ocean, between Fremantle and the Persian Gulf. Data have been collected since November 1985 until January 1996. The transect is repeated approximately monthly. Profiles are obtained approximately every 60km (a 1 degree latitude / 1.5 degree longitude grid). The data are obtained from XBTs (expendable bathythermographs) deployed via the Ship-of-Opportunity Program (SOOP) of the IOC/WMO Integrated Global Ocean Services System (IGOSS), and are now managed by the Joint Australian Facility for Ocean Observing Systems (JAFOOS), a collaborative venture between CSIRO Marine Research and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC).Expendable Bathythermographs (XBTs) have been used for many years by oceanographers to measure the temperature of the upper ocean. These instruments are simple devices which are designed to be deployed from moving vessels, enabling broad scale coverage of the world's oceans.

本数据集包含横跨印度洋、衔接弗里曼特尔与波斯湾的热带海洋全球大气/世界海洋环流实验（TOGA/WOCE）第IX9断面的温度观测数据，采集周期为1985年11月至1996年1月。该断面约每月重复观测一次，观测剖面约每60公里获取一组，对应1度纬度/1.5度经度的网格尺度。本数据集的数据源自部署于国际海洋学委员会（IOC）/世界气象组织（WMO）全球海洋综合服务系统（IGOSS，Integrated Global Ocean Services System）下属的船舶志愿观测计划（SOOP，Ship-of-Opportunity Program）的抛弃式温深计（XBT，expendable bathythermographs），目前该数据集由澳大利亚海洋观测系统联合设施（JAFOOS，Joint Australian Facility for Ocean Observing Systems）管理，该设施是澳大利亚联邦科学与工业研究组织（CSIRO）海洋研究部与澳大利亚气象局研究中心（BMRC）联合组建的合作机构。抛弃式温深计（XBT）已被海洋学家用于上层海洋温度测量多年，这类仪器结构简洁，可从移动船舶上快速部署，能够实现全球海洋的大范围观测覆盖。