This project is part of a collaborative effort to obtain long- term (2 years) observations of ocean circulation and atmospheric forcing, in anticipation of an intensive experiment planned for the Western Pacific Warm Pool in late 1992/early 1993, called TOGA-COARE (Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Response Experiment). Long- term measurements will begin in late 1991, and continue until well after the intensive experiment is completed, providing the overall environmental context for the intensive experiment. In this component, the P.I.'s will test the feasibility of attaching conductivity (salinity) sensors to drifting buoys, in order to obtain better descriptions of the upper ocean density. Conductivity fluctuations are a major source of variability in the density structure, and hence greatly affect the ocean response to atmospheric forcing in the Western Pacific Region.
