120° 



140° Spring ^ggo 



r09-, 



180° 



ac^N - 



120° 



140° 160° 



Summer 



180° 



- 30°N 



20»N 



10«N 



30°N 



- 20°N 



- 10»N 



Winte 



Figure 9. — Steric height anomaly in dynamic meters at 400 m. 



Launching a drifter from RV Wecoma 



structure. Anomalous ocean temperature structure is especially 

 important at low latitudes because it dramatically influences 

 the commercial fishery and the circulation of the atmosphere. 

 Second, oceanographers want to interact with meteorologists 

 and climatologists during the First GARP Global Experiment 

 (FGGE) in 1978-79. During FGGE, special aircraft, satel- 

 lites, and ship observations will be made to provide wind stress 

 and heat flux data of excellent quality and in unprecedented 

 quantities. 



The NORPAX Equatorial Program will begin in the fall 

 of 1977 with a 3-month pilot experiment. One of the principle 

 objectives of the pilot experiment is to determine the optimal 

 observational strategy to be used for a larger oceanographic 

 effort to be mounted later during FGGE. The pilot equatorial 

 program essentially consists of a number of individual but 

 closely coordinated observational projects located on or near 

 the 150° west meridian between the latitudes of Hawaii and 

 Tahiti (fig. 13). Measurements will be taken from ships, air- 

 planes, moored instruments, and island stations. The resulting 

 data will be used in the following ways: 



1. The space and time scale variability of density and 

 velocity field will be used to design minimum but adequate 

 sampling schemes for future monitoring of long-term 

 variations. 



25 



