A study of wind, oceanic temperature and hydrography in the upwelling area off Peru

Graduation date: 1979Observations of sea temperature, wind and hydrography obtained\ud during the three months' period of MAM 77 - CUEA experiment (JOINT-II)\ud along the C-line, near 15°S are described. Wind and temperature\ud observations made during March - May 1977 are compared to demonstrate\ud that a relationship exists.\ud Linear correlation analysis was performed on the temperature\ud data and on the alongshore component of wind and wind stress. Auto-correlations\ud and cross-correlations were computed for the temperature\ud and wind. These analyses show that the alongshore fluctuations of\ud the wind are very similar at the different stations, and the wind at\ud each location was favorable for upwelling throughout the period of\ud measurements. Temperature fluctuations in the near-surface, the nearshore\ud and the near-bottom water over the shelf are coherent with\ud temperature changes at a depth of 150 - 200 m over the upper slope.\ud Temperature-wind analysis show that there is a good response of\ud the near-surface temperature to the wind force. The time lag between\ud the wind and the near-surface temperature was about 24 hours nearshore;\ud the wind always led the temperature. Subsurface temperatures were\ud not as well correlated with the alongshore wind, both negative and\ud positive correlations were observed in this analysis, and the time\ud lag between the wind and temperature was variable; on a few occasions\ud the temperature led the wind.\ud Vertical sections of sigma-t and temperature indicate the\ud existence of conditions consistent with upwelling. Oscillation in\ud the wind with periods of several days caused significant changes in\ud the region inshore of 25 km