Bikini is about 2.7 mi 2 miles 189 nmi (350 (7 of surface area and encircle a lagoon that (40.2 km) about 200 feet km“) km) east of Enewetak. long and 15 miles (61 meters). (24.1 km) Its islands consist of is 25 wide, with a maximum depth of The land area is concentrated in the eastern islands, from Bikini to Eneu islands, which form about 53 percent of the land total, Aerokoj. with 24 percent taken up by the southern section of Enidrik to The detonation area in the north occupies about 19 percent of the land area. The climate of Enewetak and Bikini is tropical marine, generally warm and humid. to 32°C). Temperature changes are slight, ranging from 70° to 90°F (21° Rainfall is moderate, and prolonged droughts may occur. North of both atolls is open ocean for a thousand miles, with the only inhabited island being Wake. Storms are infrequent, although typhoons occur; theless, both wind and sea are continuous erosional agents. never- Although pos- Sible at any time, most tropical storms occur from September to December. Much cumulus cloud cover exists in the area. The Enewetak~Bikini region incorporates three basic wind systems. The northeast trade winds extend from the surface to 25,000 to 30,000 feet (7.6 to 9.1 km), the upper westerlies from the top of the trades to the base of the tropopause at 55,000 to 60,000 feet (16.8 to 18.3 km), and the Krakatoa easterlies from the tropopause up into the stratosphere. systems are all basically east-to-west or west~to-east currents. These Day-to- day changes reflect the relatively small north~south components, which are markedly variable. Greatest variation occurs in the upper westerlies, particularly during late summer and fall. The steady northeast trade winds in the lower levels cause the water at the surface of the lagoons to flow from northeast to southwest, where it sinks to the bottom and returns along the lower levels of the lagoons, rising to the surface along the eastern arc of the reefs and islands, where it is moved by the winds to the southwest again. 41 The lagoon waters