15 YEARS OF OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE AZORES; FROM OCEANOGRAPHIC CRUISES TO AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

摘要

Oceanographic research in the Azores has only started 15 years ago. Nevertheless, it has been possible to evolve from the typical "research cruise approach" to a more versatile and integrated approach, that has proofed to be further rewarding and adequate for the size and resources of the group. The Azorean Oceanographers have participated and conducted several research cruises since 1990, and anticipating the importance of correlating in situ data with satellite data has lead us to plan the last of these, so that there was a coincidence of transects, moorings and satellite ground tracks. On the other hand, the group has invested in data processing and merging hydrological historical data with the results from the above mentioned oceanographic cruises, creating a hydrological database for the whole Atlantic Ocean. Also, through the application of a novel methodology and approach, the group has contributed to a new vision of the currents systems in the South Atlantic Ocean, namely with the newly found St. Helena Current, the congener of the Azores Current. As a result of this continued shift in methodology, the group is now using an integrated approach where field data, model output and processed altimeter data are merged to produce operational oceanography products, such as sea state charts and daily oceanic current charts.