Research Document - 2000/061
Satellite Measurements of Sea Surface Temperature: an Application to Regional Ocean Climate.
By B. Petrie and C.S. Mason
Abstract
We have constructed the monthly sea surface temperature and temperature anomaly maps for four Canadian Atlantic coast regions: the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland Shelf and the Canadian World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) region (35-67ºN, 35-77ºW). The dataset covers the period January, 1998 to November, 1999 and is derived from satellite infrared radiometry. Throughout most of the region, but particularly over the Grand Banks and the Scotian Shelf, sea surface temperature anomalies have been at or near their highest values since 1981. Twenty sub-areas from Hudson Strait to Georges Bank have been examined in greater detail for the period 1983 to 1999. Overall, 70% of the annual temperature anomalies can be accounted for by two empirical orthogonal modes. The first mode accounts for 52% of the temperature variance with the major contributions from the Newfoundland Shelf, Cabot Strait, most of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Scotian Shelf. The second mode, accounting for 18% of the overall variance, is dominated by contributions from the Labrador Sea and Shelf and the northern Newfoundland Shelf.
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