Sea surface temperature variability in Alboran sea from satellite data

In this paper, the evolution of thermal structures in the Alboran Sea with the help of NOAA images is analysed. A temporal and spatial Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis (principal components analysis) has been performed using 12 monthly maximum images calculated from 48 daily AVHRR images taken with a weekly periodicity along the year 1993. The first spatial EOF mode (38.87% variance), which is very similar to the mean of all images, shows a very strong west Alboran sea gyre with a warm centre and cold water surrounding it. The east gyre is not so strong. The second spatial mode (17.65% variance) describes the seasonal behaviour of the water near the Spanish coast from Malaga to Cape Gata. On the other hand, the temporal EOF analysis yields a strongly dominant first mode (93.50% variance) representing the basin seasonal warming and cooling.