Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
JULY 2023
During July 2023, 170 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys were
reporting from the tropical Pacific. A small number of drifters at 100W, Eq-5N
measured eastward anomalies exceeding 40 cm/s; it is unclear if this is
associated with the El Nino alhtough it is consistent. Drifters at 5-7N across
the central basin exhibited westward anomalies of 10-20 cm/s, continuing the
pattern that appeared in May-June.

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 1993-2010 (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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