Influence of itinerant high and low-pressure systems on the
oceanographic variables of the central region of the reef corridor of
the southwestern Gulf of Mexico
Abstract
High- and low-pressure systems traveling as Rossby waves from the
western Pacific to the eastern Gulf of Mexico induce fluctuations in
oceanographic parameters (currents, temperature, sea level, and
biovolume) for a short time. Using meteorological dataset from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-(NARR-NCEP)
(North American Regional Reanalysis-National Centers for Environmental
Prediction) in the western Gulf of Mexico, those fluctuations are
described for ten days of November 2008. In addition, four ADCPs
(Acoustic Current Profilers) provided data at four reefs of the Northern
location of the Parque Nacional Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano (PNSAV).
Results showed two main wind patterns: One blowing from the south,
locally named Surada wind, when a low-pressure system is over the
Mexican territory, increasing the air temperature of the western Gulf of
Mexico to about 25°C; and the other blows from the northern area of the
Gulf of Mexico, generating a local wind named Norte wind. It happens
when an itinerant high-pressure system passes over the study area,
diminishing air temperature to 20°C. Both wind patterns impact the
seasonal marine wind-driven currents which flows to the south in the
fall winter. However, the itinerant low-high pressure systems produce a
reversing of that seasonal wind-driven current for a short period (five
days). During Suradas, the marine current flow to the north; oppositely,
during Nortes, the marine current remains to the south. In addition, a
residual current with an almost anticyclonic pattern occurring. These
changes in marine circulation caused variations in oceanographic
parameters in the northern PNSAV.