Temperature Anomalies in the Northwestern Atlantic in 1986

In 1982, Levitus published a digital atlas of four properties of the world´s oceans. These consisted of annual and seasonal averages by one degree squares of latitude and longitude and at 24 depths. This was followed in 1984, by monthly summaries of temperature down to 1000m. Using these data and the technique of optimum interpolation, it has been possible, to calculate both surface and subsurface temperature anomalies. To do this, all of the available data at the Marine Environmental Data Service has been used from 1986 and from the north-western Atlantic. While all monthly displays of anomalies are available, only one presentation is shown here. The unique aspect of this presentation is that subsurface anomalies can be derived thereby giving a more complete picture of the anomaly field and estimates of the error in the fields can also be shown.