Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
NOVEMBER 2010
During November 2010, 484 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 70%
with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were
reporting from the tropical Pacific. The westward SEC was up to 30 cm/s
stronger than normal in November, an anomaly persisting since September.
Cold SST anomalies of -0.5 to -1.5C were measured by most drifters east
of the dateline from 20S to 10N. In contrast, warm anomalies of +0.5 to
+3.0C were measured by drifters in the Kuroshio system.

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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