Sea surface temperature variability in Alboran sea from satellite data

Abstract

In this paper, the evolution of thermal structures in the Alboran Sea with the help of NOAA images is analysed. A temporal and spatial Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis (principal components analysis) has been performed using 12 monthly maximum images calculated from 48 daily AVHRR images taken with a weekly periodicity along the year 1993. The first spatial EOF mode (38.87% variance), which is very similar to the mean of all images, shows a very strong west Alboran sea gyre with a warm centre and cold water surrounding it. The east gyre is not so strong. The second spatial mode (17.65% variance) describes the seasonal behaviour of the water near the Spanish coast from Malaga to Cape Gata. On the other hand, the temporal EOF analysis yields a strongly dominant first mode (93.50% variance) representing the basin seasonal warming and cooling.