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Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
JULY 2008
During July 2008, 322 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 82% with
subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were
reporting from the tropical Pacific. Eastward anomalies in the eastern
equatorial basin, which had been strong in June, were weaker in July.
Outside the band 5S-5N, currents were near their climatological zonal
strengths. Cold SST anomalies (-0.5 to -1.5C) were measured by most
drifters in the central north Pacific (160E to 120W, 5N-30N), while warm
anomalies (+0.5 to +1.5C) were measured in the southeastern and southern
(below 10S) tropical Pacific basin and in the northwest corner of the basin
(west of 170E, north of 10N).

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.
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