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Characterizing the Navidad current interannual variability using coastal altimetry

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Abstract

In this study, the Navidad current, which flows along the northern coast of Spain in winter, is observed and characterized using coastal altimetry data over the period 1992–2002. This coastal current, marked by a strong interannual variability, is associated with eastward transport of warm waters along the shelf slope. Specific data editing and processing strategies have been applied to the along-track altimeter data, which allows us to retrieve altimetric sea level anomalies closer to the coast, with a better spatial coverage and improved quality when compared with standard altimetric products. The current variability observed upstream by in situ time series after November 1996 is well reproduced by the satellite across-track surface geostrophic current anomalies up until September 1999; this agreement degrades later in time. The combined use of satellite-derived current anomalies and sea-surface temperature anomalies allows us to develop indices of Navidad occurrences, in the first long-term, systematic survey of that current based on a multi-sensor approach. The satellite analyses confirm the previously identified Navidad occurrences in winter of 1995–1996, 1997–1998, and 2000–2001. Furthermore, a weak Navidad event was identified in winter 1996–1997. These four winters are associated with a negative North Atlantic Oscillation index in the previous fall, but the intensity of the Navidad is not correlated to the amplitude of that index.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank CTOH for providing an experimental, high-resolution TOPEX/Poseidon dataset processed with X-TRACK. They also thank Puertos del Estado for providing in situ current measurements at Estaca de Bares. The AVISO altimeter products were produced by SSALTO/DUACS and distributed by AVISO, with support from CNES. The AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder Version 5 SST data were obtained through the online PO.DAAC Ocean ESIP Tool (POET) at the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. http://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/poet. The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their careful read of the manuscript, which resulted in a clearer paper. They also gratefully thank Nadia Ayoub, Guillaume Charria, Rosemary Morrow, Laurent Chérubin, and Peter Minnett for their fruitful comments and suggestions. This work was carried out as a contribution to the MARINA (MARgin Integrated Approach) project, an OSTST project funded by CNES. It was partly supported by the European Union ECOOP project (FP6).

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Author notes

  1. Matthieu Le Hénaff

    Present address: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149-1098, USA

  2. Jérôme Bouffard

    Present address: Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats (IMEDEA), Miguel Marquez 21, 07190, Esporles, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Toulouse; CNRS/CNES/IRD/UPS, Laboratoire d’Etudes en Géophysique et Océanographie Spatiales (LEGOS), 14 av Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Matthieu Le Hénaff, Laurent Roblou & Jérôme Bouffard

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  1. Matthieu Le Hénaff
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Correspondence to Matthieu Le Hénaff.

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Le Hénaff, M., Roblou, L. & Bouffard, J. Characterizing the Navidad current interannual variability using coastal altimetry. Ocean Dynamics 61, 425–437 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-010-0360-9

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