KUROSHIO SEA-SURFACE HEIGHT FLUCTUATIONS OBSERVED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHINVERTED ECHO SOUNDERS AND TOPEX POSEIDON/

Sea surface height anomalies measured by inverted echo sounders with p ressure gauges (IES/PGs) and TOPEX/POSEIDON are compared at six locati ons in the northwest Pacific near the Kuroshio where it separates from the Japanese coast. The instruments are positioned along a TOPEX/POSE IDON descending ground track near 35 degrees N, 143 degrees E. Good co rrelation is found between measurements, with best agreement near the Kuroshio, where the range of sea surface height change is largest. Cor relations between IES/PG and TOPEX/POSEIDON sea surface height variati ons range from 0.70 to 0.97, Tides modeled and removed from the TOPEX/ POSEIDON data at the inverted echo sounder sites compare well with tid es measured by the IES/PGs. TOPEX/POSEIDON and IES/PG data are complem entary in describing mesoscale variability in the Kuroshio region.