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Tropical Pacific Drifting Buoys
Rick Lumpkin / Mayra Pazos, AOML, Miami
JUNE 2009
During June 2009, 355 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys,
72% with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer
currents, were reporting from the tropical Pacific. North of
10S, eastward anomalies have intensified since last month, with
magnitudes of 10-20 cm/s now seen across the basin. In the narrow
band of the NECC at 10N, weak westward anomalies were measured by
several drifters. From 10-22S, westward anomalies of O(10 cm/s)
were common across the basin. Most drifters away from the northwest
corner of the region measured SST at or above normal June values,
with anomalies of +0.5 to +1.5C very common. Warm anomalies were
especially prevalent in the southeast tropical Pacific. Cold
anomalies (-0.5C to -3.0C) were measured by many drifters in the
northwest, north of 20N and west of the dateline. These SST anomaly
patterns have persisted over the previous several months.
![](figa1.1.gif)
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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