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

AUGUST 2010

During August 2010, 453 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 71% with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were reporting from the tropical Pacific. As seen in the last two months, dramatic 50 cm/s westward anomalies were measured by many near-equatorial drifters, although this was primarily seen at longitudes of 140-180W. In July, this pattern was present across the basin. These westward anomalies are an intensification of the pattern seen since March. Equatorial drifters in the center of the basin measured cold SST anomalies of -1 to -3C. Off-equatorial drifters measured SSTs at or slightly above normal July values west of 160-170W, and at or slightly below normal east of this.

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.