Surface Current Field in the Area of Subtropical Counter Current Observed with Surface Drifters
To understand the mechanism of the secondary circulation including Kuroshio re-circulation and Subtropical Counter Current (SCC), which should have important roles in the fluctuation of the subtropical gyre in the North Pacific, surface drifters have been deployed and tracked with ARGOS system. Tracks of one drifter deployed in fiscal 1993 and two in 1994 are described in detail. Mean velocity field for 1 degree bins calculated from the tracks of 94 drifters deployed in the Western North Pacific for the period from 1987 to 1994 is also described. It is found that there are areas with eastward component of the mean velocity in the region of SCC. The distribution of zonal components in the mean current field calculated from surface drifters’ tracks shows good agreement with previous description about SCC, geopotential anomaly calculated by Hasunuma and Yoshida (1978) and averaged ship drifts presented by Uda and Hasunuma (1969), and theoretical studies (Takeuchi (1984)).
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| Format: | Journal Contribution biblioteca |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Published: |
1997
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/15758 |
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| Summary: | To understand the mechanism of the secondary circulation including Kuroshio re-circulation and
Subtropical Counter Current (SCC), which should have important roles in the fluctuation of the
subtropical gyre in the North Pacific, surface drifters have been deployed and tracked with
ARGOS system. Tracks of one drifter deployed in fiscal 1993 and two in 1994 are described in
detail. Mean velocity field for 1 degree bins calculated from the tracks of 94 drifters deployed in
the Western North Pacific for the period from 1987 to 1994 is also described. It is found that there
are areas with eastward component of the mean velocity in the region of SCC. The distribution
of zonal components in the mean current field calculated from surface drifters’ tracks shows good
agreement with previous description about SCC, geopotential anomaly calculated by Hasunuma
and Yoshida (1978) and averaged ship drifts presented by Uda and Hasunuma (1969), and theoretical
studies (Takeuchi (1984)). |
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