KAPEX RAFOS float data report 1997-1999 part B : float trajectories at 750 m in the Benguela Current

Abstract

Thirty-two RAFOS floats were launched at the depth of intermediate water, near 750 m, in the Benguela Current along 30S and its extension along 7W. The floats were tracked acoustically for two years during 1997–1999. Seven floats looped in three Agulhas Current rings, which drifted west northwestward at a mean velocity of around 5 cm/sec. Floats not in Agulhas rings tended to drift westward at around 2 cm/sec in the latitude band 22S–35S. North of 22S three floats drifted eastward. This report describes the float trajectories and summarizes the main results. These are the first subsurface long-term Lagrangian data in the Benguela Current.