HR: 1400h
AN: OS23F-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Comparison of Upwelling Indices Off Baja California derived from three different wind data sources
AU: * Pérez-Brunius, P
EM: brunius@cicese.mx
AF: Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, BC 22860, Mexico
AU: López, M
EM: malope@cicese.mx
AF: Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, BC 22860, Mexico
AU: Parés-Sierra, A
EM: apares@cicese.mx
AF: Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Km 107 Carretera Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, BC 22860, Mexico
AU: Pineda, J
EM: jpineda@whoi.edu
AF: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 93 Water St., Woods Hole, MA 02543, United States
AB: Coastal upwelling indices (i.e. offshore Ekman transport) along the western coast of North America have been produced since 1945 by the Pacific Fisheries Environmental Laboratory (PFEL), a division of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They have been widely used for topics ranging from description of coastal circulation patterns, climate change, and linkage between environmental and biological variability. In this study, we evaluate the PFEL indices along the northern Baja California Pacific coast (27°-33°N) by comparing them with those derived from winds measured by the QuikSCAT satellite and by coastal meteorological stations. With the exception of the PFEL series off San Diego, CA (33°N), the three datasets compare reasonably well, having similar typical year patterns, correlations >0.6, and significant coherences for periods 3-5 days or longer. By contrast, the seasonal variations, the timing and magnitude of maximum upwelling, and the variability of the PFEL indices at 33°N are significantly different compared to all the other time series, including QuikSCAT at that location. Hence, caution is suggested in using the PFEL indices as estimates of upwelling in the coastal region around the U.S.-Mexico border. The performance of the QuikSCAT winds close to shore is evaluated using the coastal meteorological station data. Although large RMS errors in direction were found for the QuikSCAT winds, they reproduce well the typical year observed by the meteorological stations, and show reasonable coherences for frequencies in the weather band and lower.
DE: 4279 Upwelling and convergences (4964)
DE: 4294 Instruments and techniques
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly