Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 2 January 1981:
Vol. 211. no. 4477, pp. 22 - 28
DOI: 10.1126/science.211.4477.22
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

The Hawaii to Tahiti Shuttle Experiment

Klaus Wyrtki 1, Eric Firing 1, David Halpern 2, Robert Knox 3, G. J. McNally 3, W. C. Patzert 3, E. D. Stroup 1, B. A. Taft 4, and R. Williams 3

1 Department of Oceanography and the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822
2 Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington 98105
3 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093
4 Department of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle 98195

The Shuttle Experiment conducted between Hawaii and Tahiti from January 1979 to June 1980 was designed to observe the changing equatorial ocean structure and circulation, to study the variations and interactions of the four major equatorial ocean currents, and to develop a scientific basis for their monitoring by simple observations of thermal structure and sea level. Preliminary analyses of the results show that the equatorial thermal structure remains intact during a normal year and that only the positions and intensities of the currents are subject to change. The water transport of the equatorial undercurrent varied from 25 x 106 cubic meters per second in January to 51 x 106 cubic meters per second in July, but also exhibited strong short-term pulsations. The equatorial surface flow responded strongly to the winds at periods of 1 month and longer. An array of drifter buoys in the equatoral countercurrent was subject to very little dispersion while traveling over 4500 kilometers in 4 months. Low-frequency fluctuations in the North Equatorial Countercurrent can be monitored by means of the difference in sea level between Fanning and Majuro.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
An Equatorial Pacific Ocean Source of Atmospheric Mercury.
W. F. Fitzgerald, W. F. FITZGERALD, G. A. GILL, and J. P. KIM (1984)
Science 224, 597-599
   Abstract »    PDF »
Equatorial Undercurrent Disappears During 1982-1983 El Nino.
E. FIRING, R. LUKAS, J. SADLER, and K. WYRTKI (1983)
Science 222, 1121-1123
   Abstract »    PDF »
Low-Frequency Eddy Kinetic Energy Spectrum in the Deep Western North Pacific.
S. IMAWAKI and K. TAKANO (1982)
Science 216, 1407-1408
   Abstract »    PDF »
Control of Equatorial Ocean Currents by Turbulent Dissipation.
W. R. CRAWFORD and T. R. OSBORN (1981)
Science 212, 539-540
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)