The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2003JC002191RAFOS float observations collected between 1992 and 2002 were analyzed to
identify the seasonal variability of circulation in four geographical boxes which extended
along the central and northern California coast and were successively located farther
offshore. The mean pressure of the floats was 375 dbar. Poleward flow associated with the
California Undercurrent dominated the two boxes closest to shore, extending from
the 400-m isobath to a distance of 190 km offshore. For the box closest to shore, the
monthly mean alongshore velocity was maximum (minimum), 5.4 cm/s (1.7 cm/s), in
May–June (February), while the eddy kinetic energy (EKE) was minimum was 33 cm2/s2
(21 cm2/s2) in September (December–February). The mean EKE in the coastal region was
28 cm2/s2, increasing to 50 cm2/s2 for the region farthest offshore, a distance of about
400 km. For that region farthest offshore, EKE had a broad maximum from June to
November and a minimum in April. Lagrangian correlation and dispersion tensors were
estimated for floats that left the coastal region. Three different dispersive regimes of
float motion were identified as ballistic transport, normal diffusion, and anomalous
sub-diffusion. Westward sub-diffusion was induced by Rossby wave-like structures with a
periodicity of 100–120 days.Observations have been collected with the support of the Office of Naval Research, the Oceanographer of the Navy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
