Tropical Highlights

  Table of Atmospheric Indices  (Table 1)

  Table of Oceanic Indices  (Table 2)

  Time Series

  Time-Longitude Sections

  Mean & Anomaly Fields

  Appendix 1: Outside Contributions

• Tropical Drifting Buoys  A1.1
  
• Thermistor Chain Data  A1.2
  
• TAO/TRITON Array (a)  A1.3
  
• TAO/TRITON Array (b)  A1.4
  
• East Pac. SST & Sea Level  A1.5
  
• Pacific Wind stress  A1.6
  
• Surface Currents (a)  A1.7
  
• Surface Currents (b)  A1.8
  
  

Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys

Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami

MARCH 2010

During March 2010, 449 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 68% with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were reporting from the tropical Pacific. The dramatic El Nino anomalies seen in the last several months were more disorganized in March. Strong eastward anomalies were seen by a few drifters close to the dateline, but westward anomalies were measured by drifters at 140-160W and 160-170E. Warm anomalies of +0.5C to +1.5C were common in the southern hemisphere west of 130W, and cold anomalies of -0.5C to -1.5C were measured by several drifters north of 10N, between the dateline and 150W. Elsewhere temperatures were near their climatological March values.

FIGURE A1.1 a) Top: Movements of drifting buoys in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The linear segments of each trajectory represent a one week displacement. Trajectories of buoys which have lost their subsurface drogues are gray; those with drogues are blue. b) Middle: Monthly mean currents calculated from all buoys 1993-2002 (gray), and currents measured by the drogued buoys this month (black) smoothed by an optimal filter. c) Bottom: Anomalies from the climatological monthly mean currents for this month.