On the causes of interannual variability of the wind field and ocean surface temperature in the area of the Canary upwelling

by

A.B. Polonsky1, T.V. Voznaya1, 2

1Institute of Natural and Technical Systems, RF, Sevastopol, Gogol St., 14

 E-mail: apolonsky5@mail.ru

2Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Universitetskaya St., 33

DOI: 10.33075/2220-5861-2025-3-14-23

UDC 551.465.6:588.16                             

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/cjqhqx

Abstract:

The purpose of this work is to check how significantly El Niño events affect the interannual variability of wind and ocean surface temperature fields in the Canary Upwelling region. Satellite data from several decades and the Pacific Nino3 index are used. It is shown that, on average, about 15% of the total variance of wind and ocean surface temperature fields in the Canary Upwelling region on an interannual scale is due to Pacific variability. The development of a warm anomaly in the equatorial zone of the Pacific Ocean is accompanied by an intensification of the Canary Upwelling. This intensification manifests itself in the strengthening of the wind-driven current off the northwestern coast of Africa and the lowering of the ocean surface temperature there, which are several months behind the changes in the ocean surface temperature in the Nino3 region. The maximum manifestations of ENSO in the Canary Upwelling region are observed during the mature phase of the event, when the Hadley cell intensifies as a result of the anomalous warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. During the most intense El Niño events, the dispersion of hydrometeorological characteristics in the Canary Upwelling region increases significantly due to Pacific variability.

Keywords: Canary Upwelling intensity and its interannual variability, El-Niño-Southern Oscillation events

Full text in PDF(RUS)

REFERENCES

  1. Malinin V.N., CHernyshkov P.P., and Gordeeva S.M. Kanarskij apvelling: krupnomasshtabnaya izmenchivost’ i prognoz temperatury vody (Canary Islands Upwelling: Large-scale Water Temperature Variability and Forecast). Saint-Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 2002, 102 p.
  2. Bakun A. and Nelson C.S. The seasonal cycle of wind-stress curl in subtropical eastern boundary current regions. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 1991, Vol. 21, No. 12, pp. 1815–1834.
  3. Bakun A. Global climate change and intensification of coastal ocean upwelling. Science, 1990, Vol. 247, No. 4939, pp. 198–201.
  4. Watson R.A., Nowara G.B., Hartmann K. et al. Marine foods sourced from farther as their use of global ocean primary production increases. Nature communications, 2015, Vol. 6, No. 1, p. 7365.
  5. Huyer A. Coastal upwelling in the California Current system. Progress in oceanography, 1983, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 259–284.
  6. García-Reyes M., Sydeman W.J., Schoeman D.S. et al. Under pressure: climate change, upwelling, and eastern boundary upwelling ecosystems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 2015, Vol. 2, p. 109. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2015.00109
  7. Polonskiy A.B. and Serebrennikov A.N. Dolgoperiodnyye tendentsii izmeneniya inten-sivnosti vostochnykh pogranichnykh apvellingovykh sistem po razlichnym sputniko-vym dannym. Ch. 1: Atlanticheskiye apvellingi (Long-term trends in the intensity of eastern boundary upwelling systems based on various satellite data. Part 1: Atlantic upwellings). Issledovaniye Zemli iz kosmosa, 2021, No. 5, pp. 31–45.
  8. Polonskiy A.B. and Serebrennikov A.N. Intensifikatsiya vostochnykh pogranichnykh apvellingovykh sistem v Atlanticheskom i Tikhom okeanakh (Intensification of eastern boundary upwelling systems in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Meteorologiya i gidrologiya, 2020, No. 5, pp. 86–95.
  9. Laffoley D. and Baxter J.M. Ocean deoxygenation: Everyone’s problem-causes, impacts, consequences and solutions. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, 2019, 588 p.
  10. Bakun A., Field D.B., Rodriguez A.R. et al. Greenhouse gas, upwelling‐favorable winds, and the future of coastal ocean upwelling ecosystems. Global Change Biology, 2010, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 1213–1228.
  11. Shannon L.V., Crawford R.J.M., Pollock D.E. et al. The 1980s–a decade of change in the Benguela ecosystem. South African Journal of Marine Science, 1992, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 271–296.
  12. Varela R., Álvarez I., Santos F. et al. Has upwelling strengthened along worldwide coasts over 1982-2010? Scientific reports, 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 10016.
  13. Tim N., Zorita E., and Hünicke B. Decadal variability and trends of the Benguela Upwelling System as simulated in a high ocean-only simulation. Ocean Sci., 2015, Vol. 11, pp. 483–502. https://doi.org/10.5194/os-11–483–2015
  14. Bonino G., Di Lorenzo E., Masina S. et al. Interannual to decadal variability within and across the major Eastern Boundary Upwelling System. Scientific Reports, 2019, Vol. 9, No. 1. p. 19949.
  15. Arístegui J., Barton E.D., Xose A. et al. Sub-regional ecosystem variability in the Canary Current upwelling. Progress in Oceanography, 2009, Vol. 83, No. 1–4, pp. 33–48.
  16. Polonskiy A.B. and Serebrennikov A.N. Mnogoletniye tendentsii v izmenenii temperatury po-verkhnosti okeana v zone Kanarskogo apvellinga i ikh prichiny (Long-term trends in ocean surface temperature changes in the Canary Islands upwelling zone and their causes). Issledovaniye Zemli iz kosmosa, 2018, No. 3, pp. 93–100.
  17. Ramesh N. and Boos W.R. Impacts of the Large Seasonal Cycle of Upwelling Zone Sea Surface Temperatures on the Atmosphere. J. of Climate, 2025, Vol. 38, Iss. 12, pp. 2739–2760. https://doi.org./10.1175/JCLI-D-0169.1
  18. Bulgakov N.P., Polonsky A.B., Popov Yu.I. et al. Variability of the temperature field off the North-Western Coast of Africa. International Symposium on the Most Important Upwelling Areas off Western Africa (Cape Blanco and Benguela), 1985, Vol. 1, pp. 79–92.
  19. Michelchen N. About interannual coastal upwelling variations off NW-Africa with reference to changes of “Southern Oscillation”. International Symposium on the Most Important Upwelling Areas off Western Africa (Cape Blanco and Benguela), 1985, Vol. 1, pp. 93–100.
  20. Serebrennikov A.N. Uluchshennaya metodika opredeleniya indeksov pribrezhnykh apvellingov po sputnikovym dannym (Improved Methodology for Determining Coastal Upwelling Indices from Satellite Data). Sovremennyye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2018, Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 44–51.
  21. Emery W.J., Lee W.G., and Magaard L. Geographic and Seasonal Distributions of Brent – Vaisala Frequency and Rossby Radii in the North Pacific and North Atlantic. J. Phys. Oceanog., 1984, Vol. 14 (2), pp. 294–317.
  22. Rasmusson E.M. and Carpenter T.H. Variations in tropical sea surface temperature and surface wind fields associated with Southern Oscillation (El Nino). Monthly Weather Review, 1982, Vol. 110, pp. 354–384.
  23. Polonsky A. The Ocean’s Role in Climate Change. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK, 2019, 268 p.

Loading