Assessment of surface circulation using remote-sensed data, in-situ measurements and directional statistics

Abstract

A method accounting for the directional characteristics of in-situ wind and current measurements is proposed and applied in two characteristic locations of the Aegean Sea. With the combined use of directional statistics, satellite derived SST maps and in-situ measurements, an efficient quantitative description of the directional current behavior and its relation with the corresponding wind fields, thermohaline trends, seasonality and sources of the main meso- and large-scaled surface currents of the Aegean Sea, is elaborated. The evolution, persistence, duration and signal of the surface circulation patterns has been appeared to be quite different during each season or calendar year, shaping in this way a completely different layout of the overall sea surface circulation. This is a novel approach interrelating directional statistics with in-situ measurements and SST maps, for the Aegean Sea.