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

OCTOBER 2008

During October 2008, 380 satellite-tracked surface drifting buoys, 88% with subsurface drogues attached for measuring mixed layer currents, were reporting from the tropical Pacific. Westward anomalies of 10 cm/s were measured by many drifters in the SEC across the basin, in the latitude band 10-30S. Larger (20 cm/s) westward anomalies were also measured in the northwestern region 10-12N, 130-160E. Elsewhere, currents were near their climatological means and anomalies were dominated by features such as ITWs. SSTs were close to climatological October values in the center of the basin, with warm anomalies of +0.5 to +1.5C common west of the dateline and north of 10N, a persistent pattern over the last few months. Very warm anomalies (+1.5 to +3.0C) were measured by many drifters north of 20N and west of 160E. In the southeastern talies of -0.5 to -1.5C.

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.