Influence of the NAO on the northwestern Mediterranean wave climate

10 pages, 10 figures. [EN] This study examines teleconnections between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the wave climate of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (NWM), defined by the monthly mean significant wave height (SWH) and the 95th percentile significant wave height (95th percentile SWH...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientia Marina
Main Authors: Cañellas, Bartomeu, Orfila, Alejandro, Méndez, Fernando J., Álvarez-Díaz, Alberto, Tintoré, Joaquín
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España) 2010
Subjects:
Teleconnections
Wave climate
NAO
EOF
Mediterranean sea
Variability
Teleconexiones
Clima marítimo
Variabilidad
Mar Mediterráneo
North Atlantic
North Atlantic oscillation
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/23245
https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2010.74n1055
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Summary:10 pages, 10 figures. [EN] This study examines teleconnections between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the wave climate of the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (NWM), defined by the monthly mean significant wave height (SWH) and the 95th percentile significant wave height (95th percentile SWH), in the period ranging from 1958 to 2001. The data analyzed comes from the multidecadal hindcast over Europe carried out during the HIPOCAS project. In order to avoid fictitious cross-correlations, data were prewhitened by fitting a p-order autoregressive model. To split the temporal and spatial variability, an EOF encoding technique was applied to residuals before searching for teleconnections. We found the northwestern Mediterranean wave climate to be influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) with an instantaneous response. When the NAO is in its positive phase, positive anomalies in the SWH and the 95th percentile SWH appear in the area between the Balearic Islands, the Gulf of Lions and the Catalonian coast. [ES] El presente trabajo estudia las teleconexiones entre la Oscilación del Atlántico Norte (NAO) y el clima marítimo en el Mediterráneo noroccidental, definido por la media mensual de la altura significante (SWH) y la media mensual de la altura significante correspondiente al percentil 95 (percentil 95 SWH), en el período comprendido entre 1958 y 2001. Los datos analizados corresponden al retroanálisis de 44 años de datos atmosféricos, dentro del marco del proyecto HIPOCAS. Estos datos han sido codificados en forma de EOFs para obtener la variabilidad espacio-temporal asociada a la NAO. Los datos utilizados han sido previamente blanqueados para evitar correlaciones ficticias entre las series, mediante el ajuste a un modelo autorregresivo de orden p. Los resultados muestran como el clima marítimo del Mediterráneo noroccidental está influenciado a escala mensual por las distintas fases de la NAO. Cuando la NAO está en su fase positiva, podemos observar anomalías positivas en la altura ...

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