Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
NOVEMBER 2020
During November 2020, 252 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys were
reporting from the tropical Pacific. Very strong (60-80 cm/s) westward
anomalies, persisting since October, were measured by several drifters
in the western equatorial Pacific. Weaker (20-30 cm/s) westward anomalies
were measured by some drifters in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific.

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.
|