Satellite Derived Inferences to Some Characteristics of the South Pacific Atmospheric Circulation Associated with the Niño Event of 1972–73

Abstract

Analyses of daily and multi-day satellite mosaic sequences are used to obtain evidence regarding the atmospheric circulation pattern over the South Pacific from the winter of 1971 to the summer of 1972?73. Interseason comparisons indicate a strong increase in cyclonic activity in the autumn, winter, and spring of 1972 over the ocean to the west of the coast of Chile accompanied by an apparent eastward trend in the movement of the quasipermanent South Pacific cloud band. Such a pattern is consistent with available conventional observations and it suggests an anomalously high frequency of northerly component in the surface winds over the higher latitude course of the Peru current. The latter would thus be retarded, presenting conditions favorable to a Niño season.