Drifting buoy data from the tropical Pacific Ocean during NORPAX Equatorial Test Shuttle Experiment

During the winter of 1977-1978, the four-month Equatorial Test Shuttle Experiment was conducted as part of the Equatorial Program for NORPAX, a major program of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration, funded by the National Science Foundation. The core project of the Test Shuttle Experiment was serial CTD and XBT sampling between 20°N and 17°S along 150°W at approximately monthly intervals (Taft and Kovala, 1979) and weekly AXBT sampling on 150°W and 158°W (Patzert, et al_., 1978). These observations were collected between Hawaii and Tahiti, spanning the North Equatorial Current (NEC), the North Equatorial Counter Current (NECC) and the South Equatorial Current (SEC).