Long Term trend in surface temperature in the Canary Islands from in situ observations

Abstract

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data from remote sensing (AVHRR /NOAA) between 1999 and 2019 show a warming trend of 0.28ºC per decade in the oceanic waters of the Canary Currents Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and a cooling of 0. 05ºC per decade in the strongest upwelling cells in the CCLME. However, there are only a few insitu long term observations in the CCLME to validate these observed trends. Here we use a set of in-situ data provided by four buoys located between Gran Canaria and Tenerife islands from the “Puertos del Estado” network and surface data from the long-term observations program of the Spanish Oceanographic institute, RaProCan (Radial Profunda de Canarias), to validate de satellite observations in the oceanic and upwelling waters.The comparisons permitted to determine the uncertainty of the observed trends in the oceanic waters of the CCLME and, based on that, estimate the uncertainty in trends of the Eastern Boundary Upwelling System obtained from SST.