The Tyrrhenian Sea is a sub-basin of the western Mediterranean crossed by intermediate and deep waters from the eastern basin. Across this sub-basin, temperature profiles of the water column from expendable bathythermographs (XBT) have been acquired for sixteen years along transects realized thanks to the use of commercial vessels. Since 1999 an increase of temperature has been observed at intermediate depths even if intersper...

A new technique for determining the depth of expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) is developed. This new method uses a forward-stepping calculation which incorporates all of the forces on the XBT devices during their descent. Of particular note are drag forces which are calculated using a new drag coefficient expression. That expression, obtained entirely from computational fluid dynamic modeling, accounts for local variations...

The Ships Of Opportunity Program in the Mediterranean Sea was established at the end of 1999, in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Pilot Project (MFS-PP). Many improvements have been made in data collection, transmission and management. Calibration of selected XBTs and a comparison of XBTs vs. CTDs during some research cruises have assured the quality of the data. Transmission now allows receiving data in...

A main goal of a Ship Of Opportunity Programme (SOOP) is the provision of temperature profiles in near real time. The use of commercial ships and expandable probes allows the reduction of costs, in comparison with research ship cruises. A major cost effectiveness is achieved using an automated multiple launcher, requiring minimum personnel effort. A multiple launcher, developed in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting...

EXpendable BathyThermograph (XBT) temperature profiles collected in the framework of the Mediterranean Forecasting System – Toward Environmental Prediction (MFS-TEP) project have been compared with CTD measurements. New procedures for the quality control of recorded values have been developed and checked. Some sources of possible uncertainties and errors, such as the response time of the apparatus (XBT probe, thermistor and re...