Evolution of sea surface temperature in the somali basin during the southwest monsoon of 1979.

Satellite and research vessel observations of sea surface temperature during the southwest monsoon of 1979 show the development of large wedge-shaped areas of cold water along the Somali coast at both 5 degrees and 10 degrees N during June and July. The cold water associated with the large northern and southern Somali eddy systems could be traced several hundred kilometers offshore. By late August the cold wedge at 5 degrees N translated northeastward as far as 10 degrees N at speeds of 15 to 30 centimeters per second, indicating a coalescence of the systems.

Somali current: recent measurements during the southwest monsoon.

The Somali Current was measured at approximately maximum strength for the year during the southwest monsoon on 11 and 12 August 1975 (approximately 1(1/2) days) at stations spaced 20 to 35 kilometers apart. These measurements permit a nearly synoptic detailed mapping of the temperature structure of a major western boundary current.