Portuguese Maritime Space: A Study about Currents and Water Masses, with a Climatology and Software Approach

NRP João Roby, Escola Naval and Centro de Investigação Naval (CINAV), Portuguese Navy

Abstract: There are many phenomena that characterize the water masses in the Portuguese maritime space: regional phenomena such as the Mediterranean outflow water, or the Azores Current and Counter Current, and more extensive phenomena such as the subtropical gyre. The thermal and salinity analysis, and consequent sound velocity characteristics and density of these waters allows us to understand better their behavior in the geographic space. In this study, we tried to get a visual perspective of the different types of water masses and their circulation, from developed software, and with the more updated data available. The Mediterranean Outflow Water, the Azores Current and Countercurrent are clearly shown. However, it’s not clear or consistent the Slope Current and the Portugal and Canary currents.