Large‐scale current and thermohaline structures along 156°E during the COARE intensive observation period

From December 1992 to February 1993, 18 meridional sections of temperature, salinity, and current were collected along 156°E, from 5°S to 5°N, during the Intensive Observation Period of the Coupled Ocean‐Atmosphere Response Experiment. The average conditions were characteristic of the ongoing El Niño event, with a relatively shallow thermocline and fresh surface waters. Alternating westerly and easterly wind forcing was observed, and the warm surface layer (the “Warm Pool”) responded in a time scale of a few days by corresponding alternating flows; the equatorial current system was less affected at depth. The upper‐layer oceanic temperature variability involved several mechanisms, including surface cooling by evaporation during westerly winds and entrainment from the thermocline.