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2002 LAPCOD Meeting
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Lagrangian observations of the surface circulation of the Tyrrhenian Sea (West Mediterranean)
Pierpaolo Falco(1), Valentina Lignitto(1), Pierre-Marie Poulain(2), Enrico Zambianchi(1)
(1) "Parthenope" University, Napoli, Italy, (2) Ist. Naz. O.G.S., Trieste, Italy
enrico.zambianchi@uninav.it(Abstract received 10/31/2002 for session A)
ABSTRACT
The circulation in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a sub-basin of the Western Mediterranean, is not yet very well understood. It is believed that typically the surface current field consists of a basin-scale cyclonic gyre in the southern sector of the basin, while the northern area is characterized by a seasonally modulated wind-induced anticyclonic gyre. We present results of the first year of lagrangian observations of the surface circulation in the Tyrrhenian sea by means of CODE drifters. Since December 2001, instruments have been deployed every six months along the route Naples (East Tyrrhenian Sea) to Palermo (Sicily, South Tyrrhenian Sea) and in October 2002 three-monthly deployments along the route Naples to Cagliari (Sardinia, West Tyrrhenian Sea) started, thanks to the cooperation of the Italian shipping company Tirrrenia. The total number of instruments deployed so far amounts to 30, with a few early failures. The preliminary analysis shows interesting and somehow unexpected results. The drifter trajectories reveal a high variability of the south Tyrrhenian circulation, mostly in the central sector where the mean flow is not very well defined due to a relatively strong eddy activity. Most of the drifters deployed along the Naples-Palermo route get trapped in the southeastern portion of the Tyrrhenian, which leads us to reconsider previous estimates of the residence time of surface waters in the basin. Along the Italian cost the mean flow is stronger and the drifters follow the expected pattern. The recently started three-monthly deployments will allow to investigate the basin wide circulation with respect also to the inflow and outflow patterns in the Sardinia and Corsica Channel, which rules the renewal of the water in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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2002 LAPCOD Meeting, Key Largo, Florida, December 12-16, 2000