The study of ocean currents and their circulation pattern has aroused great interest in recent decades due to their influence on climatology on a global scale and consequently the direct repercussions on habitability conditions.
The dynamic map presented on this section shows a 40 year (1971-2012) ocean surface temperature climatology for the Macaronesian region. The data have been extracted from cruises records from the World Ocean Data Centre (WODC). From the original data, which are irregularly distributed in space and time, the average, maximum and minimum value of measured temperature are calculated and presented in squares with a length of 2.5 grades.
Meteorological stations record measurements of pressure, barometric temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and also include sensors for the measurement of solar and ultraviolet radiation.
Sea turtles are animals with a complex life cycle as they exploit distinct feeding habitats throughout their lives. These species perform large-scale migrations between feeding areas and nesting beaches making use of their incredible orientation ability. After birth, the baby sea turtles enter the sea and start an oceanic phase where several studies have demonstrated that their movements are mainly linked to the oceanic currents.
Gliders are autonomous vehicles (AUVs) self-propelled by small changes in their flotation, which allows to generate displacement of vertical component that with the help of two wings becomes an oblique component, resulting in an efficient forward movement thus minimizing energy consumption.
The Oceanographic Campaigns are essential for the development of oceanography as an integrative science that studies the complex geological, physical, chemical and biological processes and mechanisms that take place in the oceans. The campaigns allow both the "in situ" obtaining of biogeochemical data from the water column and / or deep sediments, as well as the anchoring and subsequent recovery of different meteorological and oceanographic monitoring systems.