This work presents a study on the variability of satellite-derived sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) fields in regions under the influence of different oceanographic and/or biophysical patterns in the South-western Atlantic Ocean (SWA). In order to accomplish that, time series of SSTA from 1985 to 2006 were investigated over nine sub-areas in the SWA, divided into the subtropical, intermediate and sub Antarctic domains. Spectral analysis applied to the SSTA time series reveled cycles in the interannual period between 1.6 and 3.7 years. Cross correlation analysis was used aiming to establish the relation between the cycles present in the SSTA and the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, represented here by the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI). The results show a statistically significant, lagged in time, correlation between the ENSO and thermal anomalies in the SWA, however there is no direct association between the warm (cold) El Niño (La Niña) episodes with positive (negative) SSTAs. Among all distinct study areas, the maximum correlation occurs in the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence region (-0,78), with a time lag of 9 months after the La Niña of May 1988 to May 1989.
sea surface temperature anomalies; El Niño-Southern Oscillation; Southwestern Atlantic Ocean; biophysical provinces
