Spatial and temporal variability in the Adriatic Sea: combined use of SeaWiFS and AVHRR data

Abstract

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Sea viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data from January 1998 to June 1999 are used to examine spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) and apparent chlorophyll (AChl) in the Adriatic Sea. Flows long the Albanian coast and the Italian can be distinguished year-round in the monthly averaged AChl, but only in the colder months in the monthly averaged SST's. The AChl averaged fields supply less information on circulation features away from coastal boundaries and where conditions are generally oligotrophic except for the early spring bloom in the Southern Adriatic Gyre. The winter-spring SST and chlorophyll distributions are very different between the two years, particularly in the Northern Adriatic shelf and the Southern Adriatic Gyre. It is hypothesized that this difference may be related to dense water formation that occurs only in the northern and southern Adriatic Seas. The time series of daily SST indicate that dense water formation was favored in 1999 by episodes of cooler winter temperatures in the southern gyre (less than 13.5 degrees Celsius) and on the northern Adriatic shelf. Blooms in 1999 may have been delayed due to surface replacement flows driven by sinking of dense water.