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Temperature variations in the Equatorial Atlantic as revealed by drifting buoys
Author(s) -
Reverdin Gilles,
Gonella Joseph,
Fieux Michèle,
McPhaden Michael
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl011i008p00791
Subject(s) - equator , advection , buoy , geology , climatology , oceanography , environmental science , latitude , geodesy , physics , thermodynamics
From May through September 1983, surface buoys deployed as a component of the FOCAL experiment (Programme Français Océan et Climat dans l'Atlantique Equatorial) drifted in the cold waters of the South Equatorial Current in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The surface temperature (SST) is analysed along the buoy tracks. In late May, the strong temperature drop near 4°W and 3°S is associated with vertical mixing as cold patches appear near the equator. Horizontal advection is important in June and July, as the cold water tongue expands southwards and westwards. It is also important later in the western Atlantic south of the equator, where the cooling by advection is balanced primarily by heating from the atmosphere.