Satellites Reveal Hawaiian Isles' Long Tail of Wind and Water
JPL News Release
6/14/01RS
#2001-129

June 14, 2001

The Hawaiian Islands trigger an extraordinary interaction between wind and ocean that extends thousands of kilometers. This island effect is much larger than has ever been observed by scientists before.

Using data from Earth-observing satellites, researchers discovered this unusually long island "wake," which includes a narrow eastward-flowing ocean current extending 8,000 kilometers (4,900 miles) from Asia to Hawaii. The scientists' report appears in the June 15 issue of the journal Science.

till image of Hawaiian Wake.
(Click for Animation)

While scientists have known of an eastward current off of Asia for some years, this new research shows that it extends from Asia to the Hawaiian Isles. Some researchers say such a current could possibly have aided the islands' early settlers.

"Our study shows how tiny islands, barely visible on a world map, can affect a long stretch of Earth's largest ocean. The Pacific could only be sketchily observed with ship-based instruments; advanced satellite technology, however, is changing all this and giving us fascinating new images of this ocean," said author Dr. Shang-Ping Xie, from the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center and Meteorology Department.
(The Full News Release)

Enjoy,
Dan