The surface and near-surface (30 m) currents of the eastern mid-latitude Pacific obtained from 32 satellite-tracked drifting buoys during the period June 1977 are discussed. These observations of oceanic currents are merged with and are compared to Fleet Numerical Weather Center's daily estimates of surface winds for the same period. Statistical comparisons of these data sets reveal that the drifters move systematically approximately 30¿ to the right of the surface wind at approximately 1.5% of the wind speed. This relationship between drifter movement and surface winds occurs during the entire period except for the summer months of 1976 when independent of the surface wins the buoy trajectories indicate mesoscale eddy motions with 100 km and 30 day time and space scales, respectively. Drifter lifetimes exceeded that of the 9-m diameter parachute drogues set at 30 m depth, thus enabling a comparison of the currents derived from the drifter motions at the surface and 30 m. These comparisons reveal no systematic difference in the drifter motions with and without drogues. These results suggest a rather uniform flow in the upper 30 m during periods of steady winds. The estimates of the nature of near-surface currents obtained from the drifters differ from those predicted by Ekman's classical theory of wind-driven flow, in that there is no evidence of either a reduction in speed or change in direction of the currents over the upper 30 m. |