FY 1995

Lagrangian measurements in the Kamchatka Current and Oyashio

Stabeno, P.J., R.K. Reed, and J.E. Overland

J. Oceanogr., 50(6), doi: 10.1007/BF02270498, 653–662 (1994)

From 1988 to 1993, 23 satellite-tracked drifting buoys entered the Kamchatka Current. The buoy trajectories showed a well-formed, high-speed current that originated near Shirshov Ridge, and flowed southward through Kamchatka Strait. During some years, the buoys turned eastward at ~50°N, while in other years they were transported as far south as Japan (40°N). Only one buoy entered the Sea of Okhotsk. Eddies were evident in many of the buoy trajectories. Greatest maximum daily velocities (>100 cm s⁻¹) were observed south of Kamchatka Strait, with 50-60 cm s⁻¹ being more common.