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Surface oceanic currents are driven by wind currents, the large scale prevailing winds drive major persistent ocean currents, and seasonal or occasional winds drive currents of similar persistence to the winds that drive them, [6] and the Coriolis effect plays a major role in their development. [7]
A surface weather analysis for the United States on October 21, 2006. By that time, Tropical Storm Paul was active (Paul later became a hurricane). Surface weather analysis is a special type of weather map that provides a view of weather elements over a geographical area at a specified time based on information from ground-based weather stations.
Such maps have been in use since the mid-19th century and are used for research and weather forecasting purposes. Maps using isotherms show temperature gradients, [2] which can help locate weather fronts. Isotach maps, analyzing lines of equal wind speed, [3] on a constant pressure surface of 300 or 250 hPa show where the jet stream is located.
Winds are part of Earth's atmospheric circulation. The westerlies (blue) and trade winds (yellow and brown) Global surface wind vector flow lines colored by wind speed from June 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011. In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular direction ...
These wind patterns result in a wind stress curl that drives Ekman pumping in the subtropics (resulting in downwelling) and Ekman suction in subpolar regions (resulting in upwelling). [3] Ekman pumping results in an increased sea surface height at the center of the gyre and anticyclonic geostrophic currents in subtropical gyres. [3]
A geostrophic current is an oceanic current in which the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis effect. The direction of geostrophic flow is parallel to the isobars , with the high pressure to the right of the flow in the Northern Hemisphere , and the high pressure to the left in the Southern Hemisphere .
The Equatorial Counter Current is an eastward flowing, wind-driven current which extends to depths of 100–150 metres (330–490 ft) in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. More often called the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) , this current flows west-to-east at about 3-10°N in the Atlantic , Indian Ocean and Pacific basins ...
The winds drive surface water to the right of the wind flow, that is offshore, which draws water up from below to replace it. The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current. This is the mechanism that produces California's characteristic coastal fog and cool ocean waters.