Physical and biological fields in the coastal transition zone off northern California were measured during February, March, May and June 1987 in an extended alongshore region between 60 km and 150 km offshore. The spring transition, as seen in coastal sea level and winds, occurred in mid-March. Surface variability during...
During the summers of 1987 and 1988, 77 near-surface satellite-tracked drifters were deployed in or near cold filaments near Point Arena, California (39ºN), and tracked for up to 6 months as part of the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) program. The drifters had large drogues centered at 15 m, and the...
Two years of satellite infrared imagery (1984–1986) are used to examine the sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the northern Gulf of California. Empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of the temporal and spatial SST variance for 20 monthly mean images show that the dominant SST patterns are generated by spatially varying...
In June 1987 the geostropic flow in the coastal transition zone off northern California (between 50 and 150 km off the coast from Point Reyes to just north of Cape Mendocino) was dominated by a well-defined, southward-meandering current. Three vertical sections are presented that show the hydrographic structure of the...
We use a 4-year time series of high-resolution coastal zone color scanner imagery to study mesoscale variability in phytoplankton pigment (as a surrogate for biomass) distributions off central California during the spring–summer upwelling season. We use empirical orthogonal functions to decompose the time series of spatial images into its dominant...
Data from the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment are used to describe the velocity fields and water properties associate with cold filaments in the California Current. Combined with previous field surveys and satellite imagery, these show seasonal variability with maximum dynamic height ranges and velocities in summer and minimum values...