Chapter 5
Mesoscale Dynamics in the Canary Islands Area
as Observed Through Complementary Remote
Sensing Techniques
Luis García-Weil, Antonio G. Ramos, Josep Coca and Alexandre Redondo
Abstract The combined use of data collected by multi-spectral radiometers, operating in the visible and infrared spectrum, and altimeter radars, operating in the
microwave spectrum, allowed the detailed assessment of oceanic mesoscale dynamics in the Canary Islands area. Island-induced eddies are recurrent oceanographic
structures of the region and contribute, together with other features originating
from the African near-coastal zone, like upwelling filaments, to the variability
of the physical and biological field of the Canarian Archipelago. The analysis of
satellite-measured parameters with complementary specificities—namely brightness temperature and sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, as well as sea level
anomaly—provided a description of the mesoscale variability around the Islands,
covering in detail an entire seasonal cycle in the period 1998–1999. An overview is
given of the spatial and temporal characteristics of all mesoscale features observed
in the satellite imagery, including their origin, evolution and interaction with each
other and their environmental surroundings.
5.1 Introduction
In the last 2 decades, different studies using in-situ and Remote Sensing (RS) data
have allowed to portray the Canary Islands area—through which the main current,
known as Canary Current, flows in a southwestward direction—as a region showing
a complex pattern of oceanic mesoscale variability, consisting primarily of eddies
and mesoscale meanders or filaments (Barton et al. 1998). Similar patterns have
L. G.-Weil ()
Departamento de Física, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC),
Las Palmas, Spain
e-mail: lgarcia@dfis.ulpgc.es
A. G. Ramos · J. Coca · A. Redondo
SeaSNET Canarias ground station. Departamento de Biología,
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Las Palmas, Spain
V. Barale, M. Gade (eds.), Remote Sensing of the African Seas,
97
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8008-7_5,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Mesoscale Dynamics in the Canary Islands Area
as Observed Through Complementary Remote
Sensing Techniques
Luis García-Weil, Antonio G. Ramos, Josep Coca and Alexandre Redondo
Abstract The combined use of data collected by multi-spectral radiometers, operating in the visible and infrared spectrum, and altimeter radars, operating in the
microwave spectrum, allowed the detailed assessment of oceanic mesoscale dynamics in the Canary Islands area. Island-induced eddies are recurrent oceanographic
structures of the region and contribute, together with other features originating
from the African near-coastal zone, like upwelling filaments, to the variability
of the physical and biological field of the Canarian Archipelago. The analysis of
satellite-measured parameters with complementary specificities—namely brightness temperature and sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, as well as sea level
anomaly—provided a description of the mesoscale variability around the Islands,
covering in detail an entire seasonal cycle in the period 1998–1999. An overview is
given of the spatial and temporal characteristics of all mesoscale features observed
in the satellite imagery, including their origin, evolution and interaction with each
other and their environmental surroundings.
5.1 Introduction
In the last 2 decades, different studies using in-situ and Remote Sensing (RS) data
have allowed to portray the Canary Islands area—through which the main current,
known as Canary Current, flows in a southwestward direction—as a region showing
a complex pattern of oceanic mesoscale variability, consisting primarily of eddies
and mesoscale meanders or filaments (Barton et al. 1998). Similar patterns have
L. G.-Weil ()
Departamento de Física, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC),
Las Palmas, Spain
e-mail: lgarcia@dfis.ulpgc.es
A. G. Ramos · J. Coca · A. Redondo
SeaSNET Canarias ground station. Departamento de Biología,
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC), Las Palmas, Spain
V. Barale, M. Gade (eds.), Remote Sensing of the African Seas,
97
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8008-7_5,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014