VARIABILITY OF THE UPPER OCEAN AT THE EQUATOR, 156-DEGREES-E, OBSERVED BY R V HAKUHO-MARU DURING TOGA-COARE IOP/

Variations of temperature and salinity in the upper ocean are observed by the R/V Hakuho-Maru, when she stayed at the fixed station at the e quator, 156 degrees E, for 15 days in November 1992. The weather was c alm for most of the period, and the temperature of the surface mixed l ayer increased slightly. Analyses suggest that heat fluxes through the sea surface and meridional advection explain most of the change of th e heat storage in the mixed layer. EOF and isopycnal analyses suggest wave motion and intrusion of off-equatorial water are the main process es for the variation of temperature and salinity in the upper ocean, a long with fluxes through the sea surface and mixing process in the mix ed layer.