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Ann. Geophys., 21, 21-32, 2003
www.ann-geophys.net/21/21/2003/
© European Geosciences Union 2003
Variability of mesoscale features in the Mediterranean Sea from XBT data analysis
G. Fusco1, G. M. R. Manzella1, A. Cruzado2, M. Gačić3, G. P. Gasparini4, V. Kovačević3, C. Millot5, C. Tziavos6, Z. R. Velasquez2, A. Walne7, V. Zervakis6, and G. Zodiatis8
1ENEA, Progetto Speciale Clima Globale, La Spezia, Italy
2CSIC, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Blanes, Spain
3OGS, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Trieste, Italy
4CNR, Istituto di Oceanografia Fisica, La Spezia, Italy
5CNRS, Laboratoire de Biochimique, Toulon, France
6National Centre for Marine Research, Athens, Greece
7Sir Alistair Hardy Foundation on Oceanographic Studies, Plymouth, UK
8Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, Nicosia, Cyprus
Abstract. During the period 1998–2000,
the Mediterranean Forecasting System Pilot Project, aiming to build a
forecasting system for the physical state of the sea, has been carried out. A
ship-of-opportunity programme sampled the Mediterranean upper ocean thermal
structure by means of eXpendable Bathy-Thermographs (XBTs), along seven tracks,
from September 1999 to May 2000. The tracks were designed to detect some of the
main circulation features, such as the stream of surface Atlantic water flowing
from the Alboran Sea to the Eastern Levantine Basin. The cyclonic gyres in the
Liguro-Provenal Basin, the southern Adriatic and Ionian Seas and the
anticyclonic gyres in the Levantine Basin were also features to be detected.
The monitoring system confirmed a long-term persistence of
structures (at least during the entire observing period), which were previously
thought to be transient features. In particular, in the Levantine Basin
anticyclonic Shikmona and Ierapetra Gyres have been observed during the
monitoring period.
In order to identify the major changes in the thermal
structures and the dynamical implications, the XBT data are compared with
historical measurements collected in the 1980s and 1990s. The results indicate
that some thermal features are being restored to the situation that existed in
the 1980s, after the changes induced by the so-called "Eastern
Mediterranean Transient".
Key words. Oceanography: physical
(eddies and mesoscale processes; general circulation; instruments and
techniques)
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