Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
D. Hansen / AOML, Miami
At the end of December there were 228 satellite-tracked drifting buoys, of which 67% had
subsurface drogues intact, reporting from the Tropical Pacific. Movements of these buoys
indicated that the NECC is running strong all across the basin, and that SEC although not
well sampled is at strength except in the far west where there is evidence of an eastward
equatorial jet. SST anomalies were near -1C in the eastern equatorial region, near zero in
the central Pacific, and near +1 in the western equatorial region and poleward 20 N/S in
the east.
Movements of drifting buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean during December 1996.
The linear segments of each trajectory represent a two week displacement. Red paths show
buoys drogued to 15-m depth; blue paths show undrogued buoys.