Indices of Equatorial Pacific Heat Content

As indices of upper ocean heat content in the equatorial Pacific, we compute monthly Warm Water Volume (WWV) and depth averaged temperature over the upper 300 m (T300) from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Center (BMRC) Ocean Analyses ( http://www.bom.gov.au/bmrc/ocean/results/climocan.htm). These indices are computed for the period beginning January 1980. WWV is defined as the volume of water with temperature above 20°C in oceanic regions of the equatorial Pacific between 5°N to 5°S, 120°E to 80°W. T300 is defined as the average temperature over the same latitude and longitude ranges. Monthly anomalies are computed by removing the mean seasonal cycle for a base period of 1980-2002. Monthly means and anomalies for the eastern (80°W-155°W) and western (155°W-120°E) halves of the basin are also available, as are the mean seasonal cycles for the 1980-2002 base period. The two indices are equivalent for most purposes, with the correlation of monthly means and anomalies > 0.9.
 
Please acknowledge TAO Project Office, NOAA/PMEL if you use these products in publications or presentations. Also, we would appreciate receiving a preprint and/or reprint of publications utilizing these data for inclusion in the TAO bibliography. Relevant publications should be sent to:
    TAO Project Office
    NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
    7600 Sand Point Way NE
    Seattle, WA 98115
For further information, contact Michael.J.McPhaden@noaa.gov.