Ekman transport along the Galician Coast (NW, Spain) calculated from QuikSCAT winds

Ekman transport is studied close to the Galician coast by means of wind data provided by the QuikSCAT satellite from November 1999 to October 2005. Three different coastal zones are identified, western coast from Miño River to Cape Finisterre, middle coast from Cape Finisterre to Cape Ortegal and northern coast, from Cape Ortegal to Cape Peñas. In addition to existence of long-term variations, the periodicity of the transport signal is characterized by an annual component (365 days), a seasonal fluctuation (50–80 days) and a time scale related to passing storms (15–20 days). Although the periodicity of the signal is similar at the three zones due to external meteorological forcing, the Ekman transport is modulated by the presence of the coast, in such a way that seasonal patterns vary in intensity and direction along the coast. Thus, the spring–summer pattern is characterized by high transport at the western coast, pointing seaward perpendicular to the shore-line. The same orientation is observed at the middle coast although with a lower magnitude. Finally, Ekman transport at the northern coast points landward and oblique to the shore-line. The different transport orientations are shown to be responsible for the upwelling probability variation along the coast. On the other hand, the autumn–winter pattern does not show a clear trend with important inter-annual differences showing the high variability of Ekman transport for this period.