Oceanographic Observations of the 1982 Warming of the Tropical Eastern Pacific

Abstract

Moored current meter, sea level, hydrographic, and surface drifter measurements show the large changes that took place in the eastern tropical Pacific during the onset of the warm episode of 1982. In August the near-surface flow at 0 degrees , 110 degrees W reversed direction to eastward. By October the sea surface temperature in the equatorial zone increased by 5 degrees Celsius above the long-term monthly mean value, sea level rose by 22 centimeters at the Galápagos Islands, and the thermocline was displaced downward by 50 to 70 meters along the equator and the South American coast.