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

FEBRUARY 2009

During February 2009, 362 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 82% with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were reporting from the tropical Pacific. Across the basin, the westward SEC and NEC were both stronger by 10 cm/s than their climatological February strengths. Strong eastward anomalies in the eastern NECC may have been associated with instability waves. East of 140W, SSTs were close to climatological February values. Between 140W and the dateline, many cold (-0.5 to -1.5C) anomalies were measured by drifters between 25N and 10S. West of the dateline, SSTs were close to or slightly warmer (+0.5 to +1.5C) than climatology.

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.