SATELLITE-BASED OBSERVATIONS OF SEA SURFACE HEIGHT OCEAN COLOR AND SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE HAVE PROVIDED A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPERTIES OF NONLINEAR MESOSCALE EDDIES AT THE OCEAN SURFACE. RECENT STUDIES ALSO NOW INCLUDE IN SITU MEASUREMENTS FROM CO-LOCATED ARGO FLOAT PROFILES REVEALING THE RICH INTERNAL STRUCTURES OF THESE EDDIES BOTH NEAR THE SURFACE AND AT DEPTH. THESE ADVANCES ALLOW ESTIMATES OF GLOBAL AND LOCAL TRANSPORT BY INFERRING THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES FROM A FEW SIMPLE OCEAN SURFACE OBSERVATIONS. DESPITE THIS PROGRESS THE DYNAMICAL PROPERTIES AND STABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE EDDY STRUCTURES ARE ALMOST COMPLETELY UNEXPLORED. FURTHERMORE IT IS NOT EVEN KNOWN WHETHER THE IMPLIED EDDY SOLUTIONS ARE DYNAMICALLY CONSISTENT CALLING INTO QUESTION THE ACCURACY OF ANY ESTIMATES OF THEIR IMPACT. IN ORDER TO RESOLVE THESE OUTSTANDING ISSUES AND FACILITATE FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS WE PROPOSE A RESEARCH PLAN WITH THE FOLLOWING PRIMARY OBJECTS. 1. AUGMENT THE GLOBAL DATABASE OF ARGO FLOAT PROFILES CO-LOCATED TO OBSERVED EDDY CENTERS TO INCLUDE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE (SST) SEA SURFACE SALINITY (SSS) CARBON (C) SURFACE DRIFTERS AND SUBSURFACE FLOATS AND MAKE THIS ALTIMETER-CENTRIC EDDY (ACE) DATASET FREELY AVAILABLE ON PO.DAAC. 2. EVALUATE THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE OBSERVED EDDIES FIT CURRENT EMPIRICAL THREE-DIMENSIONAL EDDY MODELS AND WHERE THESE MODELS FAIL TO REPRESENT OBSERVATIONS. 3. DEVELOP DYNAMICAL MODELS AND EVALUATE WHICH ARE MOST CONSISTENT WITH THE OBSERVATIONS. 4. DERIVE THE STABILITY AND TRANSPORT PROPERTIES OF THE EDDIES WITHIN THEIR DYNAMICALLY CONSISTENT THEORIES. 5. PRODUCE AND MAKE FREELY-AVAILABLE DYNAMICALLY-CONSISTENT OBSERVATIONALLY-VALIDATED REGIONALLY VARYING VERTICAL STRUCTURE MODELS. 6. RE-EXAMINE EXISTING VOLUME SALT HEAT AND CARBON TRANSPORT ESTIMATES OF NONLINEAR EDDIES USING DYNAMICALLY-CONSISTENT VERTICAL STRUCTURE MODELS.