Abstract
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 the use of ships of opportunity to collect data in repeated transects. The XBT has accordingly played an important role in several large international research programs, and the global data archives reflect this. Quality Control (QC) procedures are described for data recorded by XBTs. Examples are shown and described for commonly observed oceanographic features and instrument malfunctions. A QC code (flagging) system is described, which aids in the process of future validation and documentation of real features, and in the elimination of erroneous temperature profiles. There are some modes of malfunction of the XBT which appear very similar to real oceanographic features. This manual enables the user to better distinguish between the two. A knowledge of the .....