Richardson Philip L.

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Last Name
Richardson
First Name
Philip L.
ORCID
0000-0001-9115-2445

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1992 - 1994 2
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Subject: Equatorial currents × Author: Wooding, Christine M. ×

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  • Technical Report
    SOFAR float trajectories from an experiment to measure the Atlantic cross equatorial flow (1989-1990)
    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1992-08) Richardson, Philip L. ; Zemanovic, Marguerite E. ; Wooding, Christine M. ; Schmitz, William J. ; Price, James F.
    Neutrally buoyant SOFAR floats at nominal depths of 800, 1800, and 3300 m were tracked for 21 months in the vicinity of western boundary currents near 6N and at several sites in the Atlantic near 11N and along the equator. Trajectories at 1800 m show a swift (>50 cm/sec), narrow (100 km wide) southward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) extending from 7N to the equator. At times (February-March 1989) DWBC water turned eastward and flowed along the equator and at other times (August-September 1990) the DWBC crossed the equator and continued southward. The mean velocity near the equator was eastward from February 1989 to February 1990 and westward from March 1990 to November 1990. Thus the cross-equatorial flow in the DWBC appeared to be linked to the direction of equatorial currents which varied over periods of more than a year. No obvious DWBC nor swift equatorial current was observed by 3300 m floats. Eight-hundred-meter floats revealed a northwestward intermediate level western boundary current although flow patterns were complicated. Three floats that significantly contributed to the northwestward flow looped in anticyclonic eddies that translated up the coast at 8 cm/sec. Six 800 m floats drifted eastward along the equator between 5S and 6N at a mean velocity of 11 cm/sec; one reached 5W in the Gulf of Guinea, suggesting that the equatorial current extended at least 35-40° along the equator. Three of these floats reversed direction near the end of the tracking period, implying low frequency fluctuations.
  • Technical Report
    SOFAR float trajectories in the tropical Atlantic 1989-1992
    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1994-09) Richardson, Philip L. ; Zemanovic, Marguerite E. ; Wooding, Christine M. ; Schmitz, William J.
    Neutrally buoyant SOFAR floats at nominal depths of 800 m, 1800 m, and 3300 m were tracked acoustically for 3.7 years in the vicinity of the western boundary and the equator of the Atlantic Ocean. Trajectories and summaries from the whole experiment are shown along with detailed trajectories from the second setting of the listening stations, October 1990 to September 1992. Some highlights are mentioned below. Trajectories at 1800 m revealed a swift narrow southward flowing deep western boundary current (DWBC) extending from 7°N across the equator. Two floats directly crossed the equator in the DWBC and went to 10°S. Two other floats left the DWBC near the equator and drifted eastward. Three floats entered the DWBC from the equatorial current system and drifted southward. No obvious DWBC or swift equatorial currents were observed by the 3300 m floats. The 800 m floats plus some surface drifters measured seven anticyclonic eddies as they translated northwestward along the coast of South America in a band from the equator to 12°N. One of the floats (28) entered the Caribbean where tracking stopped. This float was again tracked as it drifted across the mid-Atlantic Ridge and entered the Canary Basin near 34°N 28°W after a gap of 2.7 years. We infer that this float went westward though the Caribbean and northeastward in the Gulf Stream. Float 17 drifted northward from 10°N to 22°N in an eastern boundary current off the coast of West Africa. Floats between 6°N-6°S (roughly) drifted long distances zonally in the equatorial current system.