- 2 - 
Introduction 
This data report presents the temperature field in terms of 
profiles and section plots across the North Atlantic between 
the English Channel and the Grand Banks in 1988. Owing to the 
kind support of the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG in 
Hamburg, F.R.G., and the willing co-operation of the crew of 
CMS "Koln Atlantic", the measurements have been carried out 
since May 1988, using expendable bathythermographs (XBT) 
launched from the bridge wing during the ship's bi-weekly 
passages of the North Atlantic. 
The objectives of this Ship of Opportunity Programme (SOOP) 
are: 
1. To collect and distribute temperature data in near real 
time for IGOSS. 
2. To be prepared for high density measurements in the 
1990 ongoing World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). 
3. To obtain statistical information for the specific 
analysis of variable features in the North Atlantic. 
The Integrated Global Ocean Services System (IGOSS) co-spon 
sored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) 
of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is 
a worldwide system for rapid collection, exchange and 
analysis of oceanographic data, and the timely preparation 
and dissemination of ocean products and services. Since the 
establishment of this programme in 1972, data have been 
collected by merchant and research vessels and distributed in 
near real-time (i.e. within 30 days after measurement) via 
the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) of WMO, and are 
thus placed at the worldwide scientific community's disposal. 
As a Federal German Governmental Authority the DHI has 
participated in this programme from the very first. 
Within the framework of the IGOSS network the new line A9 was 
announced in 1987 by DHI (IOC, 1987). Usually IGOSS lines are 
characterized by low density sampling (At > 6 hours) and are 
not suitable from an eddy resolving point of view. Obviously, 
low density XBT measurements established under operational 
aspects, are of limited scientific value (Sy, 1987a). This 
can be specifically concluded from the analysis of the 
French-German SOOP line between Europe and Brazil (Emery et 
al., 1987) . 
For selected lines the high density sampling mode is a 
reguirement of WOCE, the field phase of which will start in 
1990. Within WOCE, a Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) programme 
will be established with the aid of commercial ships on 
scheduled tracks in order to estimate the statistics of the 
thermal field in the upper kilometre (WOCE IPO, 1988). The 
IGOSS line A9 corresponds to the WOCE line AX3.