THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IS CENTRAL TO THE GLOBAL OVERTURNING CIRCULATION: IT ADMITS WIDESPREAD UPWELLING OF OLD DEEP WATERS TO THE UPPER OCEAN. THIS WATER IS TRANSFORMED AT THE SURFACE AND SUBSEQUENTLY EXPORTED TO THE INDIAN PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC BASINS. EXPORT OCCURS VIA TWO PATHWAYS: FIRSTLY VIA SHALLOW MODE AND INTERMEDIATE WATERS WATERS AND SECONDLY VIA COLD DENSE ANTARCTIC BOTTOM WATER (AABW) THE MOST VOLUMINOUS WATER MASS IN THE GLOBAL OCEAN. BY OFFERING A METHOD TO MEASURE A POORLY CONSTRAINED AND GLOBALLY SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF THE OCEAN CIRCULATION USING NASA SATELLITES THIS PROPOSAL DIRECTLY ADDRESSES ONE OF THE CENTRAL RESEARCH THEMES OF NASA ROSES PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY PROGRAM. THIS RESEARCH IS ALSO ANTICIPATED TO HAVE BROAD SCIENTIFIC IMPACT: PAST TIME SERIES AND FUTURE MONITORING OF AABW EXPORT WILL BE OF DIRECT USE IN INTERPRETING IN SITU PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS IN THE ABYSSAL OCEAN AND IN VALIDATING GLOBAL CLIMATE MODELS.