Wind speed data obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis project are used to construct winter (November-March) wind indices for the western Iberian Peninsula. The data used represent a 2.5 • square area, centred at 41.0 • N, 9.4 • W, over the period 1948-2003. The NCEP data are well corre-5 lated with a time-series (1980-2001) of wind measurements from the Cape Carvoeiro lighthouse on the western Portuguese coast (39.4 • N, 9.4 • W). The new indices, of which there are four corresponding to northerlies, easterlies, southerlies and wester-lies, constitute measures of numbers of significant wind event days, where a significant wind event is defined to be 4 or more consecutive days of wind speeds exceeding 10 4 m s −1. Results show both intra-and inter-annual variations in the numbers of significant wind event days, as well as clear decadal trends. A comparison between a hybrid index, composed of the numbers of significant northerly and easterly wind event days-both promote offshore transport, which is thought to have a negative impact on pelagic fish recruitment-and western Iberian sardine catch data, reveal an extensive 15 period of significant negative correlation. The relationship over the most recent period, ∼1999-2000, is unclear.
CITATION STYLE
Mason, E., Santos, A. M. P., & Peliz, J. (2005). Western Iberian winter wind indices based on significant wind events. Ocean Science Discussions (Vol. 2, pp. 105–127). Retrieved from www.ocean-science.net/osd/2/105/
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