Hydrography and circulation of the bay of Bengal during withdrawal phase of the southwest Monsoon

Hydrographic data were collected from 3 to 10 September 1996 along two transects; one at 18° N and the other at 90° E. The data were used to examine the thermohaline, circulation and chemical properties of the Bay of Bengal during the withdrawal phase of the southwest monsoon. The surface salinity exhibited wide spatial variability with values as low as 25.78 at 18° N / 87° E and as high as 34.79 at 8° N / 90° E. Two high salinity cells (S > 35.2) were noticed around 100 m depth along the 90° E transect. The wide scatter in T-S values between 100 and 200 m depth was attributed to the presence of the Arabian Sea High Salinity (ASHS) water mass. Though the warm and low salinity conditions at the sea surface were conducive to a rise in the sea surface topography at 18° N / 87° E, the dynamic height showed a reduction of 0.2 dyn.m. This fall was attributed to thermocline upwelling at this location. The geostrophic currents showed alternating flows across both the transects. Relatively stronger and mutually opposite currents were noticed around 25 m depth across the 18° N transect with velocity slightly in excess of 30 cm s⁻¹. Similar high velocity (> 40 cm s⁻¹) pockets were also noticed to extend up to 30 m depths in the southern region of the 90° E transect. However, the currents below 250 m were weak and in general < 5 cm s⁻¹. The net geostrophic volume transports were found to be of the order of 1.5 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹ towards the north and of 6 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹ towards west across the 18° N and 90° E transects respectively. The surface circulation patterns were also investigated using the trajectories of drifting buoys deployed in the eastern Indian Ocean around the same observation period. Poleward movement of the drifting buoy with the arrival of the Indian Monsoon Current (IMC) at about 12° N along the eastern rim of the Bay of Bengal has been noticed to occur around the beginning of October. The presence of an eddy off the southeast coast of India and the IMC along the southern periphery of the Bay of Bengal were also evident in the drifting buoy data.     

南海民都洛岛西南暖池的季节变化研究

南海暖池作为影响我国东南部地区气候变化的重要因素,研究其多时间尺度变化特征及动力机制对于更加准确预报我国天气变化具有重要意义。结合海表面温度卫星观测资料和海表面再分析数据,识别和研究了南海民都洛岛西南暖池的季节变化特征,并利用数值模式探讨了其强迫机制。暖池位于民都洛岛西南方向约100 km范围内,中心位置在120.5°E, 12.5°N。暖池整个季节变化过程可分为发展期(10～11月)、成熟期(12～2月)、衰退期(3～5月)、消失期(6～9月)4个阶段:11月份暖池与南北两侧冷水温差达到0.5°C,暖池结构初步形成; 2月份温差达到1.1°C (南侧)和0.7°C (北侧),暖池最强;3月份暖池开始衰退,到6月份完全消失。进一步研究表明,该暖池的形成与地形引起的民都洛岛附近海域潜热通量的空间差异有关:冬季盛行的东北季风被民都洛岛上的高海拔山脉阻挡,在民都洛岛西南背风侧形成低风速区,而在南北两侧形成风激流(风速极大值区)。风速的空间差异引起了海表面潜热通量的差异,导致民都洛岛背风侧的潜热通量较周围海域要小,海表面温度较周围海域要高,从而导致了暖池的形成。     

Observed Variability of Thermohaline Fields,Currents and Eddies in the Western Bay of Bengal During BOBMEX-99

Field measurements during the Bay of Bengal Monsoon Experiment (BOBMEX-99), data from a deep sea moored buoy, and satellite altimeter were used to describe variability in the hydrographic and meso-scale features in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) during the summer monsoon of 1999. The thermohaline fields showed two regions of upsloping of isopleths centered at 82°E and 84.75°E, ～110 km and 450 km away from the coast, respectively, followed by downsloping. The upsloping/downsloping of isopleths and the alternating currents was part of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic circulation patterns in the western BoB. In this region, both wind and current were important in the dynamics of coastal upwelling. The observations showed a relationship between the propagating waves and eddy on variability of thermohaline fields. On an annual cycle, four Kelvin waves were observed in the BoB, but only the downwelling Kelvin wave formed during October entered the Arabian Sea. During the monsoon season, four eddies were formed in the western BoB, of which the anticyclonic eddy centered at 15°N, 84°E and the cyclonic eddy centered at 17.5°N, 84.5°E were prominent. The baroclinic instability caused by the opposing currents along the east coast and the wind stress curl favored the formation of eddies. Okhubo-Weiss and Isern-Fontanet parameter confirmed the presence of eddies in the BoB.     

Low Salinity, Cool-Core Cyclonic Eddy Detected Northwest of Luzon during the South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX) in July 1998

To detect eddies, intensive surveys of the northeast South China Sea (SCS) (114°30′–121°30′ E, 17°–22°N) were conducted in July 1998 during the international SCS Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX), the U.S. Navy using Airborne Expendable Bathythermograph and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth sensors (AXBT/AXCTD), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences using Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP). The hydrographic survey included 307 AXBT and 9 AXCTD stations, distributed uniformly throughout the survey area. The ADCP survey had two sections. The velocity field inverted from the AXBT/AXCTD data and analyzed from the ADCP data confirm the existence of a low salinity, cool-core cyclonic eddy located northwest of Luzon Island (i.e., the Northwest Luzon Eddy). The radius of this eddy is approximately 150 km. The horizontal temperature gradient of the eddy increases with depth from the surface to 100 m and then decreases with depth below 100 m. The cool core was evident from the surface to 300 m depth, being 1°–2°C cooler inside the eddy than outside. The tangential velocity of the eddy is around 30–40 cm/s above 50 m and decreases with depth. At 300 m depth, it becomes less than 5 cm/s. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Kuroshio Extension Front from satellite sea surface temperature measurements

The position and strength of the surface Kuroshio Extension Front (KEF), defined as the sea surface temperature (SST) gradient maximum adjacent to the Kuroshio Extension (KE) axis (approximated by a specific SSH contour consistently located at, or near, the maximum of the SSH gradient magnitude), have been studied using weekly, microwave SST measurements from the later 1997 to early 2008. The mean KEF meanders twice around ∼36°N between the east coast of Japan and 153°E. It then migrates southeast to ∼34°N, just before reaching the Shatsky Rise (∼158°E), then progresses mostly eastward. Spatially, the KEF is strongest near the Japan coast, while it is seasonally strongest in winter and weakest in summer. Low-frequency variations of its strength, most notably in its upstream region, can be related to the known bimodal states of the KE. During 2003–2005, when the KE was in its stable state, the winter KEF SST gradient exceeded 10°C/100 km.     

Caribbean current variability and the influence of the Amazon and Orinoco freshwater plumes

The variability of the Caribbean Current is studied in terms of the influence on its dynamics of the freshwater inflow from the Orinoco and Amazon rivers. Sea-surface salinity maps of the eastern Caribbean and SeaWiFS color images show that a freshwater plume from the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers extends seasonally northwestward across the Caribbean basin, from August to November, 3–4 months after the peak of the seasonal rains in northeastern South America. The plume is sustained by two main inflows from the North Brazil Current and its current rings. The southern inflow enters the Caribbean Sea south of Grenada Island and becomes the main branch of the Caribbean Current in the southern Caribbean. The northern inflow (14°N) passes northward around the Grenadine Islands and St. Vincent. As North Brazil Current rings stall and decay east of the Lesser Antilles, between 14°N and 18°N, they release freshwater into the northern part of the eastern Caribbean Sea merging with inflow from the North Equatorial Current. Velocity vectors derived from surface drifters in the eastern Caribbean indicate three westward flowing jets: (1) the southern and fastest at 11°N; (2) the center and second fastest at 14°N; (3) the northern and slowest at 17°N. The center jet (14°N) flows faster between the months of August and December and is located near the southern part of the freshwater plume. Using the MICOM North Atlantic simulation, it is shown that the Caribbean Current is seasonally intensified near 14°N, partly by the inflow of river plumes. Three to four times more anticyclonic eddies are formed during August–December, which agrees with a pronounced rise in the number of anticyclonic looper days in the drifter data then. A climatology-forced regional simulation embedding only the northern (14°N) Caribbean Current (without the influence of the vorticity of the NBC rings), using the ROMS model, shows that the low salinity plume coincides with a negative potential vorticity anomaly that intensifies the center jet located at the salinity front. The jet forms cyclones south of the plume, which are moved northwestward as the anticyclonic circulation intensifies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, north of 14°N. Friction on the shelves of the Greater Antilles also generates cyclones, which propagate westward and eastward from 67°W.     

Study on SST front disappearance in the subtropical North Pacific using microwave SSTs

We investigated the processes relating to the weakening of the SST front in the subtropical front (STF) zone using the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System SSTs for 7?years with temporal/spatial resolutions of 1?day/12.5?km. In April, the SST front is strong with a high gradient magnitude (GM) and Jensen–Shannon divergence (JSD) band; in August, SSTs become uniform (28–30?°C), together with small GMs (<0.8?°C/100?km) and JSDs (<0.75). Since the SST front features become invisible in GM/JSD snapshots and weekly–monthly averaged images, we call this phenomenon ‘SST front disappearance (SFD)’. The SFD occurs in August, but the number of high SSTs (>30?°C) in August is smaller than that in July, which indicates that the SFD results from not only the increase in lower SSTs but also the decrease in higher SSTs. In June and July, the GM distributions have quite large standard deviations compared to those in May and August. We also investigated the vertical profile of STF using in situ temperature/salinity profiles. It was revealed that the SFD influence extends to 50?m depth. The area of high integrated heat flux and shallow mixed layer depth were found to correspond to the area where the GM decreases from 0.9 to 0.6?°C/100?km during June–August. Quantitative analyses confirmed that the SFD mechanism may be attributable to the establishment of the shallow mixed layer by the high integrated heat flux from May to July. From July to August, the SST heating/cooling in the north/south of the SST front may accelerate the SFD.     

The features and generation of CWB near the South Shetland Islands in austral summer of 1987

-STD Data obtained from the Third Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition from January to February 1987 in the region near the South Shetland Islands are used to investigate an oceanic front, continental water boundary (CWB), north of the South Shetland Islands. The characteristics of the CWB in surface and subsurface layers as well as deep layer are discussed respectively. The estimations of the geostrophic currents and the baroclinic deformed radius Rbc in this area show that the flow along the front is in the geostrophic equilibrium approximately, and the formation of the front is mainly due to the strong boundary current north of the South Shetland Islands. Its length along the front is estimated to be about 360 km and its width across the front is about 30 km.     

Upper ocean near-inertial response to 1998 Typhoon Faith in the South China Sea

During the South China Sea monsoon experiment (SCSMEX),three autonomous temperature line acquisition system (ATLAS) buoys with acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) were moored in the South China Sea to measure temperature,salinity and current velocity.Typhoon Faith passed through about 250 km south to one of the mooring buoys located at 12 58.5 N,114 24.5 E from December 11 to 14,1998.The data analysis indicates that the typhoon winds induce a great increase in the kinetic energy at near-inertial frequencies with two maxima in the mixed layer and thermocline.The near-inertial oscillations were observed at the upper 270 m in the wake of Typhoon Faith.The oscillations were originally excited in the sea surface layer and propagated downward.The amplitudes of the oscillations decrease with depth except in the thermocline.The near-inertial oscillation signals are also remarkable in temperature and salinity fields.     

Splitting of the subtropical gyre in the western North Pacific

Examined here is a hypothetical idea of the splitting of the subtropical gyre in the western North Pacific on the basis of two independent sources of data,i.e., the long-term mean geopotential-anomaly data compiled by the Japanese Oceanographic Data Center and the synoptic hydrographic (STD) data taken by the Hakuho Maru in the source region of the Kuroshio and the Subtropical Countercurrent in the period February and March 1974. Both of the synoptic and the long-term mean dynamic-topographic maps reveal three major ridges, which indicate that the western subtropical gyre is split into three subgyres. Each subgyre is made up of the pair of currents, the Kuroshio and the Kuroshio Countercurrent, the Subtropical Countercurrent and a westward flow lying just south of the Countercurrent (18°N–21°N), and the northern part of the North Fquatorial Current and an eastward flow at around 18°N. The subgyres are more or less composed of a train of anticyclonic eddies with meridional scales of between 300 and 600 km, so that the volume transport of the subgyres varies by a factor of two or more from section to section. The upper-water characteristics also support the splitting of the subtropical gyre; the water characteristics are fairly uniform within each subgyre, but markedly different between them. The northern rim of each subgyre appears as a sharp density front accompanied by an eastward flow. The bifurcations of the sharp density fronts across the western boundary current indicate that the major part of the surface waters in the North Equatorial Countercurrent is not brought into the Kuroshio. The western boundary current appears as a continuous feature of high speed, but the waters transported change discontinuously at some places.     

New type of pycnostad in the western subtropical-subarctic transition region of the North Pacific: Transition Region Mode Water

A new type of pycnostad has been identified in the western subtropical-subarctic transition region of the North Pacific, based on the intensive hydrographic survey carried out in July, 2002. The potential density, temperature and salinity of the pycnostad were found to be 26.5–26.7 σ _θ , 5°–7°C and 33.5–33.9 psu respectively. The pycnostad is denser, colder and fresher than those of the North Pacific Central Mode Water and different from those of other known mode waters in the North Pacific. The thickness of the pycnostad is comparable to that of other mode waters, spreading over an area of at least 650 × 500 km around 43°N and 160°E in the western transition region. Hence, we refer to the pycnostad as Transition Region Mode Water (TRMW). Oxygen data, geostrophic current speed and climatology of mixed layer depth in the winter suggest that the TRMW is formed regularly in the deep winter mixed layer near the region where it was observed. Analysis of surface heat flux also supports the idea and suggests that there is significant interannual variability in the property of the TRMW. The TRMW is consistently distributed between the Subarctic Boundary and the Subarctic Front. It is also characterized by a wide T-S range with similar density, which is the characteristic of such a transition region between subtropical and subarctic water masses, which forms a density-compensating temperature and salinity front. The frontal nature also tends to cause isopycnal intrusions within the pycnostad of the TRMW.     

Ocean variability North of New Guinea derived from TRITON buoy data

We investigated variability in the ocean surface-subsurface layer north of New Guinea using Triangle Trans-Ocean Buoy Network (TRITON) buoys at 2°N, 138°E and 0°N, 138°E during the period from October 1999 to July 2004. Both North and South Pacific waters were observed below the subsurface at these stations. The variability in the subsurface waters was particularly high at 2°N, 138°E. Clear interannual variability occurred near the surface; the water type differed before and after onset of the 2002–03 El Niño. Before summer 2001, water that appeared to be advected from the central equatorial Pacific occupied the near surface layer. After autumn 2001, waters advected by the New Guinea Coastal Current were observed near the surface. Intraseasonal and seasonal variations were also observed below the subsurface. With regard to seasonal variability, the salinity of the subsurface saline water, the South Pacific Tropical Water, was generally high during the boreal summer-autumn, when the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent was strong. Intraseasonal fluctuations on a scale of 20 to 60 days were also seen and may have been associated with intrinsic oceanic variability, such as ocean eddies, near the stations. Ocean variability in the thermocline layer between 100 and 200 m greatly affects the surface dynamic height variability; water variability before 2001 and variability in the pycnocline depth after 2002 are important factors affecting the thermocline.     

Surface buoyant plumes from melting icebergs in the Labrador Sea

Canada׳s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) conducts annual surveys in the Labrador Sea along the repeat hydrography line AR7W. The occupation of the AR7W line in May 2013 was followed by the experiment aimed at resolving the imprint of melting drifting icebergs on the upper layer thermohaline characteristics in the Labrador Sea. We present high-resolution observations around two icebergs conducted with the towed undulating platform Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP). The first iceberg drifted in relatively warm water of Atlantic origin (~2.5–3.1 °C) off Greenland, while the second iceberg was on the Labrador shelf in cold water below 0 °C. Both icebergs had a lengthscale of O(100 m). In both cases surface buoyant plumes fed by melt water and attached to the iceberg were observed. The plumes were evident in the anomalous thermohaline characteristics of the seawater. Their density anomalies were sufficiently strong to produce visible frontal structures, which imply a development of the intrinsic dynamics associated with a plume. The first plume formed over a time interval of ~10 h, while the second plume formed over several days and extended for more than 1 km (tenfold the iceberg׳s size). Strong vertical displacements of the pycnocline were observed near the second iceberg. They are interpreted as the internal wave wake. This interpretation is based on the temporal scale of these oscillations (local buoyancy frequency), as well as on the spatial orientation of these waves with respect to the iceberg drift relative to the pycnocline. The observed internal waves partially overlapped with the plume and affected its structure. The saline seawater splashing by swell contributed to the surface melting of the icebergs. Scaling analysis of the second plume suggests that it could be in the “rotational” dynamic regime with recirculating anticyclonic flow.     

Observation and modeling of upwelling in the southeastern Baltic

The specific features of the upwelling in the southeastern Baltic have been studied by comparing the field observations and numerical simulations. The upwelling registered in October 2005 (when a gale caused by a northeastern wind with a velocity of 15 m/s continued for about three days after a period of relatively calm weather during which the thermohaline structure was in the state close to the summer one) has been considered in detail. The gale caused a decrease in the temperature by approximately 4°C in the along-shore belt with a width of about 8 km in the region with depths of about 25 m located at a distance of approximately 8 km from the shore. The changes in the thermohaline structure that originated as a result of this gale were simulated using a 3D numerical model based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). This made it possible not only to consider the variability of the thermohaline fields at the observation region but also to study a rather wide region and to consider the field of velocity in addition to the fields of temperature and salinity. Subsequently, the numerical model made it possible to estimate the upwelling effect during cooling of the upper layer, which was more intense than the effect of turbulent mixing by an order of magnitude. It was confirmed that the specific features of the upwelling spatial structure depend on the geographic position of the upwelling observation region and on the velocity and duration of the wind that causes the upwelling.     

基于卫星遥感数据的全球表层流场反演重构

利用2000—2008年的卫星高度计资料和QuikSCAT风场资料,反演了全球的海表的地转流和Ekman流,将两者合成后生成了0.5°×0.5°的逐周全球表层流产品。在计算Ekman流的时候,引入了权重函数,改进了Lagerloef方法中Ekman流在25°S和25°N上的不连续问题。分析表明:卫星资料反演的流产品能够反映出海表流场的特征,将其分别与TAO观测和SCUD流产品进行定量化的比较显示,所得流产品具有较高的反演精度和可信度,说明改进的方法是有效的。     

Heat fluxes across 7°30′N and 4°30′S in the Atlantic Ocean

Heat fluxes are estimated across transatlantic sections made at 4°30′S and 7°30′N in January–March 1993, following Hall and Bryden (1982. Deep-Sea Research 29, 339–359). Particular care is given to the computation of Ekman volume and heat fluxes, which are assessed both (a) from the windstress data for the period of the cruise and (b) from the comparison between geostrophic and Vessel Mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (VM-ADCP) velocities. In contrast with previous studies, the two estimates for Ekman fluxes do not converge for either section: (a) (11.5±0.5 Sv; 1.01±0.05 PW) across 7°30′N and (−9.3±1.2 Sv; −0.85±0.12 PW) across 4°30′S when windstress data at the date of the hydrographic stations are used; (b) (6.3±1.1 Sv; 0.56±0.09 PW) across 7°30′N and (−3.4±3.0 Sv; −0.35±0.24 PW) across 4°30′N when the ageostrophic transport above the thermocline is used. The divergence would have been even greater at 4°30′S if the strong ageostrophic signal beneath the thermocline, which brings a transport of (8.4 Sv; 0.82 PW), had been considered. The corresponding total meridional heat fluxes are: (a) 1.40±0.16 PW and (b) 0.95±0.20 PW across 7°30′N, (a) 1.05±0.12 PW and (b) 1.67±0.14 PW (2.39±0.14 PW when the subthermocline ageostrophic transport is taken into account) across 4°30′S.The estimates based on windstress data are compared with the results from an inverse model (Lux and Mercier, 1999) to show the importance of the heat flux due to the deviation of the local depth-averaged potential temperature from its average over the section, which is neglected in the Hall and Bryden (1982. Deep-Sea Research 29, 339–359) method but is not negligible in our computation in which we do not isolate the transport of the western boundary current east of the 200 m isobath; this corrective flux amounts here to −0.19 PW across 7°30′N and 0.33 PW across 4°30′S.The seasonal variability of the meridional heat flux across 7°30′N is studied through the hydrographic data collected during the ETAMBOT 1–2 cruises, which repeated the 7°30′N section west of 35°W in September 1995 and April 1996. When the section is completed east of 35°W with CITHER 1 data and when windstress data are used for the computation of the Ekman transport, the estimates for the meridional heat fluxes are 0.20±0.14 PW in September 1995 and 1.69±0.27 PW in April 1996. The estimates fit well with results from numerical models.     

Observation of mixed Rossby-gravity waves in the Western equatorial Pacific

During the IOP (Intensive Observation Period) of TOGA/COARE (Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere/Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment) from December 1992 to February 1993, four Japanese moored ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers) measured vertical profiles of three-component velocities at the stations 2S (2°S, 156°E), 2N (2°N, 156°E), 154E (0°N, 154°E) and 147E (0°N, 147°E). Power spectra of the surface current showed a pronounced peak having a period of around 14 days for both the zonal and meridional velocities at the stations 2S and 2N near the equator, and for only the meridional velocity at the equator. This 14-day phenomenon is considered to be a kind of equatorial wave of the first baroclinic mode, from a comparison of the result of the vertical mode analysis and the vertical distribution of the standard deviation of band-pass filtered velocity fluctuations. A dispersion relationship obtained from the horizontal mode analysis of this wave confirmed that the 14-day phenomenon is a mixed Rossby-gravity wave with the westward propagating phase speed and eastward propagating group velocity. From the cross-spectral analysis of velocity data, the average phase speed and wavelength of the wave were estimated as 3.64 m s⁻¹ and 3939 km, respectively, for station pair 2S∼147E. These values were in good agreement with the average phase speed and wavelength of 3.58 m s⁻¹ and 3836 km estimated from the dispersion curve and the observed period. A northerly wind burst blew over all the mooring sites during the middle of the observation period. The mixed Rossby-gravity wave, which is anti-symmetric for the zonal velocity about the equator, is likely to be forced by this northerly wind burst crossing the equator. Generation of the oceanic mixed Rossby-gravity wave of the first baroclinic mode is discussed in association with the atmospheric Rossby wave having the same period.     

Characteristics of SSH Anomaly Based on TOPEX/POSEIDON Altimetry and in situ Measured Velocity and Transport of Oyashio on OICE

An observation line along the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) ground track 060 was set to estimate the Oyashio transport. We call this line the OICE (Oyashio Intensive observation line off-Cape Erimo) along which we have been conducting repeated hydrographic observations and maintaining mooring systems. T/P derived sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) was compared with velocity and transport on OICE. Although the decorrelation scale of SSHA was estimated at about 80–110 km in the Oyashio region, the SSHA also contains horizontal, small-scale noise, which was eliminated using a Gaussian filter. In the comparison between the SSHA difference across two selected points and the subsurface velocity measured by a moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), the highest correlation (0.92) appeared when the smoothing scale was set at 30 km with the two points as near as possible. For the transport in the Oyashio region, the geostrophic transport between 39°30′ N and 42°N was compared with the SSHA difference across the same two points. In this case the highest correlations (0.79, 0.88 and 0.93) occurred when the smoothing scale was set at 38, 6 and 9 km for reference levels of 1000, 2000 and 3000 db, respectively. The annual mean transport was estimated as 9.46 Sv in the 3000 db reference case. The Oyashio transport time series was derived from the T/P SSHA data, and the transports are smaller than that estimated from the Sverdrup balance in 1994–1996 and larger than that in 1997–2000. This difference is consistent with baroclinic response to wind stress field. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

An offshore eddy in the California current system part II: Surface manifestation

Ship and satellite observations taken over the last thirty years show that mesoscale patterns of sea surface temperature (SST) in the California Current System are consistently found throughout the year and usually occur in approximately the same geographical locations. Typically, these patterns are more pronounced in fall/winter than in spring/summer. The temporal and spatial characteristics of these persistent feature were examined with satellite infrared (IR) measurements during winter 1980–1981. In January 1981, a ship surveyed the vertical structure of several physical, chemical, and biological parameters beneath one of these SST features centered near 32°N, 124°W. The surface IR pattern had a length scale of 200 km and a time scale of about 100 days. It disintegrated following the first two storms of the winter season. Motion studies of the pattern in late October indicated an anticyclonic rotation with maximum velocities of 50 cm s^?1 at 50 km from the axis of rotation. As a unit, the pattern advected southward with an average speed of 1 cm s^?1. Thermal fronts, determined from the satellite imagery, were strongest (0.4°C km^?1) along the rim of the pattern and were advected anticyclonically with the pattern; their length scales were 20–30 km in the along-front direction and less than 10 km wide. The hydrographic data revealed a three-layer structure beneath the surface pattern; a 75 m deep surface layer, a cold-core region from 75 to 200 m depth, and a warm-core eddy extending from 250 to 1450 m. The anticyclonic motion of the surface layer was caused by a geostrophic adjustment to the surface dynamic height anomaly produced by the subsurface warm-core eddy. The IR pattern observed from space reflects the horizontal structure of the surface layer and is consistent with a theoretical model of a mean horizontal SST gradient perturbed by a subsurface density anomaly. Ship of opportunity SST observations collected by the National Marine Fisheries are shown to resolve mesoscale patterns. For December 1980, the SST pattern near 32°N, 124°W represented a 2°C warm anomaly compared with the 20-year mean monthly SST pattern.