Introduction to ‘The 1997–8 El Niño Atlas of oceanographic conditions along the west coast of North America (23°N–50°N)’

Hydrographic data collected along the West Coast of North America between January 1997 and January 1999 have been compiled into a web-based Atlas of the 1997–8 El Nino event. This paper discusses the organization of the Atlas, describes the data that were incorporated into the Atlas and explains how vertical and horizontal distributions for the different properties were constructed. Examples of figures from the Atlas are shown.