Space and time variability of satellite-derived sea surface temperatures and phytoplankton pigment concentrations in the eastern North Atlantic
- Univ. de Lisboa (Portugal)
An analysis of NOAA/AVHRR II sea surface temperatures (SST) and NIMBUS-7/CZCS phytoplankton pigment concentrations was conducted in order to characterize their mean distributions and their space-time variability in the eastern North Atlantic, particularly in the vicinity of the western Iberian Peninsula. A 9-year long (1982--1990) SST set relative to a large part of the North Atlantic was extensively processed and analyzed to obtain the highest space-time resolution possible using only measured values. A good compromise led to a 9-year sequence of weekly averages of SST at 90 km x 90 km resolution. The first applications of these data were the preparation of yearly, seasonal and monthly mean surface temperature distributions with unprecedented resolution, as well as the construction of sequences of weekly SST charts for the whole 9-year period. The latter were used to construct a color video-loop which clearly shows the seasonal and interannual evolution of SST in a large region of the North Atlantic, in particular the meridional migration of the isotherms, the variability of large-scale thermal features associated with the Gulf Stream, the Labrador Current, the Azores Current, and the coastal upwelling along the North Atlantic eastern boundary.
- OSTI ID:
- 467714
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9409461-; TRN: IM9721%%142
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. International conference on air-sea interaction and on meterology and oceanography of the coastal zone, Lisbon (Portugal), 22-27 Sep 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]; Related Information: Is Part Of Second international conference on air-sea interaction and on meteorology and oceanography of the coastal zone; PB: 343 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Surface climate variations over the North Atlantic Ocean during winter: 1900-1989
Interannual and intra-annual variability of rainfall in Haiti (1905–2005)