We sharpen our view of an eastern boundary current region during
the upwelling season through the analysis of several data sets.
We focus on the mesoscale flow field off of northern California,
observed during the Coastal Transition Zone (CTZ) experiment of 1988.
First, we estimate tidal currents in the region...
Zonal and meridional Seasoar sections centered at 1°50’S, 156°06’E were repeated >30 times in three 20-day periods between November 13, 1992, and February 15, 1993. Both sections were 130 km long, and sampling depth was 0–280 m, with a vertical resolution of ~2 dbar (2 x 104 Pa) and a...
In July 1993 we collected hydrographic data and information on chlorophyll distribution on the continental shelf north of Cape Hatteras and across the shelf break at Cape Hatteras. The data show that a warm, transparent mixed layer lies over much colder, euphotic, chlorophyll-rich bottom water on the shelf. This layer...
Datasets taken near the coasts of Peru and California have been analyzed to explore the evidence of a correlation between the high frequency (period < 10.8 hour) and low frequency (period > 4 day) motions. A large part of the high frequency current is consistent with internal wave dynamics. They...
The Leeuwin Current in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia differs from the other major eastern boundary currents, e.g., California Current, since it flows rapidly poleward against the prevailing equatorward wind. The first large-scale study of the Leeuwin Current was conducted between North West Cape (22°S) and the south-western corner...
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...
An international Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment
(COARE) was conducted in the warm-pool region of the western equatorial
Pacific Ocean over a four-month period from November 1992 through February
1993 (Webster and Lukas, 1992). Most of the oceanographic and meteorological
observations were concentrated in the Intensive Flux Array (IFA) centered at...
The dynamics of the coastal transition zone off Northern California during late May and early June 1987 art
examined through assimilation modeling studies. A regional baroclinic quasi-geostrophic model is driven by the
data through initial and boundary conditions. These initial and boundary conditions are specified by objective
analysis of hydrographic...
Satellite thermal imagery and in situ biological and physical data are presented that describe the spatial variability of phytoplankton biomass and species composition in relation to the physical structure at the sea surface during persistent upwelling off northern California. Surface patterns in temperature, geostrophic velocity, chlorophyll, and particle size structure...
An international Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment
(COARE) was conducted in the warm-pool region of the western equatorial
Pacific Ocean over a four-month period from November 1992 through
February 1993 (Webster and Lukas, 1992). Most of the oceanographic and
meteorological observations were concentrated in the Intensive Flux Array
(IFA) centered at...
This report summarizes the SeaSoar and CTD observations from R/V Wecoma cruise
W9408A (23 August to 2 September 1994) conducted as part of the Coastal Jet Separation
(CJS) experiment, under funding from the National Science Foundation. The goal of this
study is to establish how and why a strong alongshore...
Conductivity‐temperature‐depth surveys during 1988 encountered strong baroclinic jets that were evident in acoustic Doppler current profiler and hydrographic data. During June and July 1988 a filament with high surface nitrate, high chlorophyll, abundant populations of neritic centric diatoms, and higher rates of primary production was evident perpendicular to the coast...
PURPOSE: To determine physical, plankton and nutrient/chemical conditions over the continental
margin for climate change studies in NE Pacific. In particular, to make CTD and CTD/rosette and net
tow stations along 4 lines (off Newport, Coos Bay, Crescent City and Eureka), to make additional
stations along a fifth line (off...
PURPOSE: To determine physical, plankton and nutrient/chemical conditions over the continental
margin for climate change studies in NE Pacific. In particular, to make CTD and CTD/rosette and net
tow stations along one lines off Newport, OR, and to make continuous observations of currents using ADCP and of surface-layer temperature, salinity...
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...
This report summarizes the Seasoar and CTD observations from Wecoma
cruises W9306A (5 June to 12 July, 1993) and W9308B (14 August to 22 September
1993) conducted as part of the Eastern Boundary Currents Accelerated Research
Initiative, under funding by the Office of Naval Research. The cruises were
designed to...
In summer 1988, we made repeated mesoscale surveys of a grid extending 200 km offshore between
37°N and 39°N in the coastal transition zone off northern California, obtaining continuous acoustic
Doppler current profiler data and conductivity-temperature-depth data at standard stations 25 km apart
on alongshore sections 40 km apart. All...
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...
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...
Previously published physical and biological data document a zonally oriented frontal region within the California Current system separating colder and more eutrophic water north of ≈33°N from warmer; more stratified, and oligotrophic water farther to the south. Satellite images of phytoplankton pigment from the coastal zone color scanner from 1979-1983...
Demographic characteristics of juvenile Dover sole
(Microstomus pacificus) were examined in relation to
physical and biotic factors to develop a hypothesis
explaining annual variations in recruitment. Surveys were
conducted along the Oregon continental shelf at depths
between 50-400 m bimonthly during 1989 and annually (in
March) between 1990 and 1993....