Correlation between long-term marine temperature time series from the eastern and western English Channel: Scaling analysis using empirical mode decomposition

Abstract

High-frequency temperature fluctuations recorded in the English Channel are compared using two long-term autonomous underwater monitoring stations at less than 20-min time resolution. Measurements were taken from 2005 to 2011 from two systems 460 km apart in the western and eastern parts of the English Channel. Spectral analysis reveals similar statistical behaviors, with approximate 5/3 spectra and several forcing frequencies in relation to tidal and daily cycles. A co-spectra study reveals a transition scale of 11 days. The influence of this scale is also visible though Time-Dependent Intrinsic Correlation analysis (TDIC)–a recently introduced cross-correlation analysis based on Empirical mode decomposition. This helps to spatialize high-frequency temporal records at a fixed location.