Variability of temperature and currents during an upwelling event off the Western Iberian Coast

The effect of surface atmospheric variables, in particular surface winds, on the sea surface temperature and currents off the western Iberian coast are studied with results obtained from the ROMS model. An analysis of sea surface temperature and currents off the western Iberian coast during year 2000 is made at a location close to the coast.

A more detailed analysis was conducted for July and August of 2000 which showed two upwelling episodes which lasted for 8 to 10 days. These were accompanied by a maximum decrease of 5°C in sea surface temperature and an increase in offshore surface currents to values above 0.4 m s-1. The sea surface temperatures results were validated against remote sensing data from the NOAA/AVHRR. A good agreement between the model results and the observations were found.

(Alves Jose,CGUL Centro de Geofísica Universidade de Lisboa;
Miranda Pedro, CGUL Centro de Geofísica Universidade de Lisboa;
Serra Nuno University of Hamburg Center for Marine and Atmospheric Research)