Internship at NNIO on the recent evolution of sea temperature based on ARGO data

On November 23, 2022, Rita Lage e Pinheiro, finalist of the Environmental and Marine Technologies degree at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (IPS), presented and defended her internship report, entitled “Analysis of the recent evolution of the Atlantic  Ocean temperature: mainland Portugal and the Azores and Madeira Archipelagos”. The internship took place at the IPMA Research Vessels and Ocean Observatories Group between March and June 2022, under the guidance of Dr. Tanya Silveira and Dr. Mafalda Carapuço, being a relevant contribution to the Pre-Defined Project “Atlantic Observatory – Data and Monitoring Infrastructure” funded by the EEA Grants Blue Growth Program, under which Argo floats are being acquired. The work also had the valuable help of Dr. Joana Teixeira from IPMA’s DivSI in data processing.

Rita’s internship aimed to evaluate the potential of the data provided by Argo floats in the evaluation of the evolution of sea water temperature over the last 25 years. The work included the analysis of all the Argo cycles available in the Northeast Atlantic, in the area of interest for Portugal, trying to detect patterns of temperature variation, spatially and temporally, and at various depths. The Argo network provides data covering the whole study area over the last 25 years, contributing with in situ data, in the first 2000 m depth, of seawater temperature and salinity. However, the coverage is not constant in space and time, with gaps that created difficulties in the comparability (data from the same season) with the necessary detail to detect trends over time.

NNIO continues to collaborate with the School of Technology of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, promoting the reconciliation of knowledge through teaching in IPS and training in the professional environment of IPMA, and congratulates Rita for the completion of the Internship and Degree.