Relationship Between Sea Surface Temperature Variation Obtained from AVHRR Imagery and Lobster Catching (Panulirus argus) in Cuban Waters (1997-2004)

  • Regla Duthit Somoza Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras
  • Milton Kampel INPE
  • Ronald Buss Souza INPE
  • Susana Cobas Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras
Keywords: sea surface temperature, AVHRR, lobsters, anomalies

Abstract

The spatial and temporal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) for the Cuban shelf waters was obtained, and the relationship of these with lobster catches in the period from January/1997-December/2004 was analyzed. The data from this environmental variable sensor were obtained from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The periodicity of the images and data capture by fishing was monthly. Ocean waters and shelf have a seasonal pattern to the SST, reaching the highest in August (29.5 ° C) and the lowest in February (26 ° C). The extreme values recorded were recorded in August 1998 with anomalies of 1.9 ° C and -0.9 ° C in February 2001. During the winter period (Nov-Mar) it was possible to find a general pattern of water circulation in the area by observing the images; during the summer (May-October) this is not observed. Low correlation between SST anomalies and the catch of lobsters by fishing was observed. The best correlation coefficients (0.48) were found to the west of the island, with four years of time lag.

Author Biography

Milton Kampel, INPE
Graduação em Oceanografia pela Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (1988). Mestrado em Sensoriamento Remoto pelo Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (1993). Doutor em Ciências, área de Oceanografia pela Universidade de São Paulo (2003). Atualmente é Pesquisador da Coordenação de Observação da Terra do INPE, atuando nas áreas de Geoprocessamento e Sensoriamento Remoto aplicados à Oceanografia.
Published
01/06/2007
Section
Papers