Abstract
The objective of this work is to describe the climate of Espirito Santo and the northern part of the Campos Basin (i.e., the Espirito Santo geographical area - ESGA), which is located in southeastern Brazil. The observed data from the Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading-Brazil platform, operated by Petrobras during the period 2004-2013, are used in this work. The results show that the 10-m wind over the ESGA blows predominantly from the northeast, north and east directions during the year, with moderate intensity (between 4.0 and 7.0 m s -1 ). The north wind is more intense than the south quadrant wind, which occurs during the passage of the transient systems. The average wind speed depends on the South Atlantic subtropical anticyclone position, which influences the surface pressure gradient over the study area. The wind is weaker during autumn; it reaches a monthly average of 5.3 m s -1 in April and is stronger in September and January (7.3 and 7.1 m s -1 , respectively). The mean sea level pressure oscillates between 1012.3 hPa in the summer and 1019.5 hPa in the winter; the 2-m air temperature varies between 23.2°C in September and 27.4°C in March, and the 2-m relative humidity exhibits a minimum of 72.7% in May and a maximum of 84.2% in December. With regard to the frontal systems frequency, an average of 30.2 systems reach the southern ESGA each year, with a maximum in September (3.9 systems) and a minimum in February (0.8 system).
Highlights
The geographical area comprising the Espírito Santo and northern part of the Campos Basin is located beneath the coastal plain in the western portion of the South Atlantic Ocean, adjacent to Espírito Santo State and approximately between the latitudes 22.5oS and 18.5oS and longitudes 40.5oW and 37.5oW (Figure 1)
The lowest mean sea level pressure (MSLP) values in the study region occur in the summer (Figure 2A; between 1013 and 1014 hPa) when the South Atlantic subtropical anticyclone (SASA) center is in its southernmost position and furthest from the continent
Despite the low MSLP values in the whole area during the summer, the horizontal gradient pressure is more intense than that during other seasons, and the study region is located along the western edge of the SASA, where such horizontal pressure gradients are more intense
Summary
The geographical area comprising the Espírito Santo and northern part of the Campos Basin (i.e., the Espírito Santo geographical area - ESGA) is located beneath the coastal plain in the western portion of the South Atlantic Ocean, adjacent to Espírito Santo State (southeastern Brazil) and approximately between the latitudes 22.5oS and 18.5oS and longitudes 40.5oW and 37.5oW (Figure 1). The region is economically important for Brazil since it combines ields with large productions of light oil and gas, and it has a strong contribution in supplying the national market. Due to the intense oil activity in the ESGA, its climatic characterization is of extreme importance for both ocean and coastal engineering. The ESGA climate is directly inluenced annually by the South Atlantic subtropical anticyclone (SASA), which is a persistent large-scale high-pressure center generated by the general atmospheric circulation. The SASA, together with the South Paciic subtropical anticyclone and the Indian subtropical anticyclone, make up the Southern Hemisphere subtropical high-pressure belt established annually at approximately 35-30°S. In regions under the inluence of such systems, strong subsidence and divergence of surface winds inhibit vertical movements, which generates light winds, clear skies, low relative humidity and the absence of precipitation (Seager et al, 2003)
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