Publication Date:
2018-11-12
Description:
Global Drifter Program (GDP) drifter data and Argo float data from 2006 to 2013 are used to provide quantitative description and comparison of the mean near-surface (15 m) and 1000 m velocity fields in the New Zealand region. These fields are estimated both from bin-averaging the drifter/float velocities and by fitting non-divergent streamfunctions to the velocities. At both levels, our velocity fields are broadly consistent with previous drifter/float estimates, but provide more detail on the local structure of the mean fields. North of the Subantarctic Front there are large differences between the surface and 1000 m flows, with the Tasman Front being largely absent at 1000 m. South of the Subantarctic Front, where the flow is expected to be more barotropic, there is a closer correspondence between the flows at both levels. Several previously undocumented eddies in the mean flows at both levels are described.
Type:
Article
,
PeerReviewed
Format:
text
