Analyses of the wind-driven response of tropical oceans

Numerical and analytical models are used to study the upper-ocean response to surface wind stress estimates from the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These models are used to identify regions of important variability in the wind field, analyze the oceanic response, and demonstrate the applicability of remotely sensed vector wind stress and altimetry data. Both model and XBT depictions of the mean seasonal cycle, 1979 to 1981, were analyzed along the major ship tracks in the western, central, and eastern tropical Pacific. Model solutions were also used to address array design questions in observing system simulation experiments. Subsequent analyses of the 1982 to 1983 solutions will be performed with respect to differences from the mean seasonal cycle 1979 to 1981, as well as, differences in the three wind products