Temperature data from the TOGA/WOCE transect IX28 across the Southern Ocean has been collected since 1992 and are ongoing. The transect is repeated approximately 6 times a year in the Austral summer, with profiles obtained approximately every 10-50 Km. The data are obtained from XBTs (expendable bathythermographs) deployed by the French Antarctic resupply vessel L'Astrolabe, and are managed by the French Polar Institute (IPEV) and the Joint Australian Facility for Ocean Observing Systems (JAFOOS), a collaborative venture between CSIRO Marine Research and the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC).