The current meter array, designated PCM11 by the World Ocean Circulation Experiment , was sponsored by the National Science Foundation . Mean along-passage current. The perspective is looking northward, and northward velocity is positive. Note the regions of high northward flow on the west side of the passage and the slightly southward flow on the east. The mean transport is 6.0 Sv.
Squares indicate the locations of current meters.
The central goal of the moored array was to quantify the transport beneath 4000 m. This mean transport is an important constraint on the general circulation of the ocean. The mean is 6.0 Sv, the standard deviation is 1.5 Sv, and variability at a period of 30 days is evident. The transport varies by an order of magnitude but is never southward. The temporal variability of the flow through the Samoan Passage is of interest.