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Introduction
This  data  report  presents  the  temperature  field  of  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  in  1990
between  the  English  Channel  and  the  Grand  Banks  (TWI  line  AX-3)  and  between  the
English  Channel  and  Brazil  (TWI  line  AX-11)  in  the  form  of  profiles  and  section  plots.
Thanks  to  the  kind  support  of  the  Hamburg-based  Hapag-Lloyd  AG  and  Hamburg-Süd
AG  shipping  companies  and  the  willing  co-operation  of  the  crews  of  CMS  "Köln  Atlantic"
and  CMS  "Monte  Rosa",  the  measurements  were  performed  by  using  expendable
bathythermographs  (XBT)  launched  from  the  bridge  wing  by  the  officer  of  the  watch.
Measurements  along  line  AX-3  have  been  carried  out  since  1988  by  CMS  "Köln  Atlantic"
and  are  published  in  previous  data  reports.  Measurements  on  line  AX-11  started  in
1980,  but  no  data  have  been  published  until  now  because  only  strip  chart  (mechanical)
recorders  were  available.  Until  1986,  when  CMS  "Monte  Rosa"  became  operational  on
line  AX-11  (Fig.  1),  measurements  were  undertaken  by  various  Hamburg-Süd  vessels.
In  1990  the  strip  chart  recorder  was  replaced  by  a  digital  XBT  data  acquisition  system
(Bathy  Systems  SA-810)  which  gave  us  the  opportunity  to  include  these  data  in  our
annual  report.  Finally,  and  in  addition  to  our  regular  Ship-of-Opportunity  activities,  data
from  the  Arctic  Ocean  are  presented  which  were  acquired  by  the  Soviet  nuclear
icebreaker  "Rossiya"  (Fig.  2)  on  her  cruise  to  the  North  Pole.
This  Ship-of-Opportunity  Programme  (SOOP)  is  a  contribution  to  the  Integrated  Global
Ocean  Services  System  (IGOSS)  as  well  as  to  the  World  Ocean  Circulation  Experiment
(WOCE).  The  operation  of  TWI  line  AX-3  is  part  of  the  German  research  programme
WOCE-NORD  (WOCE  North-Atlantic  Overturning  Rate  Determination)  which  was
funded  by  the  German  Ministry  of  Science  and  Technology  (Fkz.:  03F0537A).  The
objectives  of  this  programme,  methods  of  measurement,  quality  problems,  data  flow  and
processing  are  described  by  Sy  and  Ulrich  (1989,1990),  Sy  (1990)  and  Sy  (1991)  and  thus
need  not  be  repeated  here.  Apart  from  some  aspects  concerning  changes  both  in  data
processing  and  presentation  techniques,  which  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  section,  the
t
technical  environment  is  unchanged.  With  the  exception  of  the  NS  "Rossiya"  cruise,
shipboard  units  and  data  processing  techniques  of  all  the  data  presented  here  are
identical.  T-7  (Deep  Blue)  probes  are  used  except  where  otherwise  stated.