The North Equatorial Current (NEC) is a westward wind-driven current mostly located near the equator, but the location varies from different oceans. The NEC in the Pacific and the Atlantic is about 5°-20°N, while the NEC in the Indian Ocean is very close to the equator. It ranges from the sea surface down to 400 m in the western Pacific.
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North Equatorial Current (in black labeled N. Equatorial)
The NEC is driven by the north-hemisphere easterly trade wind. In couple with NEC, there is another current called South Equatorial Current (SEC), generated by the easterly trade wind in the southern hemisphere. Despite the well-coupled name of the two equatorial currents, the distribution of the NEC and the SEC is not in symmetry at the equator, but slightly northward to the equator. This asymmetric distribution is aligned to the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), which is the area that the northeast and the southeast trade wind converge.
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Zhang, Linlin (2017). "Structure and Variability of the North Equatorial Current/Undercurrent from Mooring Measurements at 130°E in the Western Pacific". Scientific Reports. 7: 46310. Bibcode:2017NatSR...746310Z. doi:10.1038/srep46310. PMC 5395815. PMID 28422095.
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