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In this research, the features of the Kuroshio Current in 2019 were studied based on the observations of 29 self-developed surface current experiment drifters deployed in the western Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea. The Kuroshio flow pattern and velocity magnitude observed in 2019 were largely consistent with the climatology based on the historical drifter dataset, but they still exhibited distinctive characteristics. The intrusion of the Kuroshio into the South China Sea in the spring was observed by a group of drifters crossing the Luzon Strait from east to west, which is a notable departure from the non-intrusion pattern noted to occur in the spring in most of the historical records. A strong intrusion of the Kuroshio into the East China Sea was also observed, taking an anti-cyclonic turn in the northeast of Taiwan Island. Both the drifter trajectories and altimeter-derived dynamical topography captured the large meander pattern of the Kuroshio south of Japan in 2019, with the flow path having a maximum offshore distance of 470 km. In addition, Lagrangian statistics (lateral diffusivity, integral time scale, and integral space scale) were estimated for four selected regions with adequate drifter samplings. The lateral diffusivity had large values along the Kuroshio segment in the East China Sea and small values on the continental shelf of the East China Sea. The integral time scales for the four regions ranged from 0.8 to 3.7 days, with a corresponding integral space scale of 19~128 km.

Multiple remote sensing datasets, combined with in-situ drifter observations, were used to analyze the Kuroshio intrusion through the Luzon Strait (LS). The results showed that a strong Kuroshio Current Loop (KCL) and accompanying anticyclonic eddy (ACE) existed in winter 2020–2021. As quantitatively demonstrated by the Double Index (DI), the Kuroshio Warm Eddy Index (KWI) had low values during a long sustained period compared to those in all other years in the available historical records. Remarkable kinematic properties (i.e., amplitude, diameter, propagated distance, lifespan and propagating speed) of the accompanying ACE were extracted by automatic eddy detection algorithms, showing that the ACE had a maximum diameter of 381 km and a peak amplitude of 50 cm, which significantly exceeded the previous statistics in winter. The orographic negative wind stress curl southwest of Taiwan Island and the westward Ekman transport through the LS during the winter half year of 2020–2021 both had large values beyond their historical maxima. Hence wind forcing is regarded as the primary forcing mechanism during this event. Alternating cyclonic eddies (CEs) and ACEs approaching on the east of the LS were identified, indicating that the interaction between the Kuroshio and the impinging CEs at proper locations made extra contributions to enhancing the KCL. The accompanying ACE had a distinctive feature of a cold-core structure at the surface layer, so as to be categorized as a cold core ACE (CC-ACE), and the temperature difference between the cold core and outer warm ring was maintained for three months. The generation and long duration of the CC-ACE may be due to the sustaining entrainment supported by the warm water from Kuroshio intrusion and the Northwest Luzon Coastal Current (NWLCC) successively.

The recent rise of hybrid work poses novel challenges for synchronizing in-office work schedules. Using anonymized building access data, we quantified coattendance patterns among ~43k employees at a large global technology company. We used two-way fixed effects regression models to investigate the association between an employee’s presence in the office and that of their manager and teammates. Our analysis shows that employee in-person attendance was 29% higher when their manager was present. Moreover, a 1-SD increase in the share of teammates who were present yielded a 16% increase in the individual employee’s attendance. We also observed greater coattendance among employees who were recently hired, have a Corporate or Operations role, or work in shared office spaces. Thus, we find evidence of some voluntary alignment of work schedules. Companies could bolster such organic coordination by leveraging digital scheduling tools or providing guidance specifically aimed at increasing coattendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]