Interannual variability of the sea surface temperature in the South Brazil Bight

Abstract

In the austral winter of 1993, during a COROAS hydrographic cruise in the South Brazil Bight (SBB), an unexpected mass of cold and fresh water was observed on the continental shelf near 23°S. Subsequent analyses of different data sets suggested that the origin of that water was probably the Argentine continental shelf, near the Rio de la Plata mouth. In this article, a 13-year time series of AVHRR Sea Surface Temperature anomalies is analyzed to investigate the occurrence of this phenomenon in other periods. The results of these analyses and a good correlation with the Southern Oscillation Index suggest that the penetration of these waters into the SBB occurs in a frequency that may be associated with ENSO events. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.