Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
NOVEMBER 2015
During November 2015, 384 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 67% with
subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were reporting
from the tropical Pacific. As seen since August, across the basin a number of
drifters measured very strong eastward anomalies between 5S and 5N. Most
drifters were north of the equator and measured anomalies of ~30 cm/s.
Elsewhere, large-scale currents were close to their climatological November
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 1993-2010 (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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