Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
M.S. Swenson / AOML, Miami
At the end of September there were 259 satellite-tracked drifting buoys,
of which 75% had subsurface drogues intact, in operation for the Global
Drifter Program in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The SEC is evident across the
basin south of about 3N. The NEC is evident west of 130W. The NECC is well
established all the way to the east coast and there is evidence of tropical
instability wave activity at about 105W. SST anomalies (1C) at the end of the
month tend to be positive west of 170E.
Movements of drifting buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean during September
1996. The linear segment of each trajectory represents a
two week displacement. Red (solid) paths show buoys drogued to 15-m
depth; blue (dotted) paths show undrogued buoys.