Seasonal variability of geostrophic currents in the Atlantic Ocean according to the altimetry data

The monthly average values of the anomalies of the ocean level (according to the satellite data for 1992–2002) and the annual average dynamic heights (hydrological data) are used to compute the seasonal cycle of geostrophic currents on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. It is shown that the west and east currents are intensified with a phase difference of several months. At the same time, their latitudinal displacements are quasisynchronous. A delay of the seasonal signal in the east-west direction of about 2–3 months (on the average) is typical of currents in the tropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere. On the contrary, in the South Atlantic, the seasonal signal propagates in the west-east direction and its phase delay can be as large as almost six months. __________ Translated from Morskoi Gidrofizicheskii Zhurnal, No. 3, pp. 60–71, May–June, 2006.