9632983 Roemmich Support is provided to continue the high-density, eddy resolving eXpendable Bathymetric Thermometer (XBT) transects in the Pacific Ocean. The XBT network is designed to observe the modes of variability in ocean circulation on annual to decadal time scales and on space scales from that of boundary currents and fronts to ocean basins. A principal objective is to explore the role of the time varying ocean circulation in climate variability through redistribution of heat and salt in the upper kilometer. Quarterly XBT transects on board commercial ships will be conducted for an additional three years and a data archive will be accessible via the World Wide Web. The Analysis will focus on the transport of mass, heat and salt by ocean currents and on the interpretation of observed variability using a variety of complementary data sets like satellite altimetry, broadscale XBTs, air-sea fluxes.
