Trends and anomalies in sea-surface temperature, observed over the last 60 years, within the southeastern Bay of Biscay

Abstract

The Oceanographic Society of Gipuzkoa has recorded daily sea-surface temperature (SST) measurements, since 2nd July 1946, on a (nearly) daily basis. Sixty years of SST measurements (1947–2007) have been considered, in order to analyse the hydrographic trends and anomalies at the southeastern Bay of Biscay. The study reviews initially the consistency and reliability of the time-series; and trends and anomaly patterns. Then, the periodicity of the series; a reference period, for analysing seasonality during the period 2001–2007; and oceano-meteorological coupling within the period 2001–2007, with reference to the baseline period, have been determined. Within this context, a slight cooling trend has been observed for the whole of the time-series, in contrast to the warming over the last three-decadal period. Regarding the periodicity of the series, several cycles have been identified, with periods of about 8, 11 and 18 years; these represent the influence of climate cycles over the (local) SST series. Additionally, seasonal anomaly patterns between 2001 and 2007 have been examined based upon the selected reference period (1980–2002). Several extreme seasonal events have been observed, such as warm summer SST values in 2003 and 2006 and cold winter values in 2005. Such events can be explained by the “deseasonality” phenomenon, observed throughout the study period. In addition to the direct influence of atmospherical parameters, such as air temperature and irradiance on SST, dynamical variables (turbulence and upwelling–downwelling) account also for this coupling. Overall, despite the marginal location and surface character of the time-series, it reveals anomalies that agree with those described for larger zones of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean; hence, it can be characterised as being a reliable and representative long-term SST series.