At the end of November there were 276 satellite-tracked drifting buoys, of which 72% had subsurface drogues intact, in operation for the WOCE/CLIVAR Surface Velocity Program in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The three major currents are all well-established, although the NEC is poorly sampled east of 130W and is relatively weak elsewhere. Tropical instability waves are clearly active between 95W and 130W and may extend westward to 160W. Equatorial SST anomalies at the end of the month are generally cool (about 1 C) except in the extreme west. On the larger scale, the Northern Hemisphere (0- 30N) is anomalously warm and the Southern Hemisphere (0-30S) is anomalously cold.

FIGURE A1.1 - Movements of drifting buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean during November 1995. The linear segments of the trajectories represent two week displacements. Red (solid) paths show buoys drogued to 15-m depth; blue (dotted) paths show undrogued buoys.