Chaigneau Alexis auteur aut IRD Pizarro O. auteur aut IRD Rojas W. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng Satellite-tracked surface drifter data from 1999-2006 are used to compute global climatology of inertial current characteristics at seasonal scales. The global mean near-inertial current amplitude at 15m depth is similar to 10 cm s(-1) corresponding to mixed-layer inertial energies of similar to 300 Jm(-2). The Southern Ocean and the western North Pacific and Atlantic oceans are the most energetic in the near-inertial frequency band, whereas weaker inertial activity is observed in the subtropical and eastern boundary regions. In every ocean basin, inertial activity is higher during fall and winter, associated with maximum storms activity and deeper mixed-layers. This study also shows that the mixed-layer model developed by R. T. Pollard and R. C. Millard (1970) and forced by the QSCAT/NCEP blended wind product is too energetic in the tropics and not enough at high latitudes. These discrepancies could question the previous estimates of the wind work to inertial motions based on those simulations. specialized ATLANTIQUE 021 066 35 13 13603 2008 0094-8276 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00002588 10.1029/2008GL034060 0094-8276 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/PAR00002588 IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2008-09-19 2017-08-23 PAR00002588 fre