Current Conditions of the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem - Sea Surface Temperature Distribution :: Ecosystems Dynamics and Assessment

Spring Sea Surface Temperature Distribution

The progression of spring sea surface temperatures (SST) for the months of January through June is shown in the interactive figure below. SSTs appear as progressive shades of cyan to blue in the top row(s) of icons. Anomalies of SST, those tending to exceed plus or minus one quarter of a standard deviation of the overall SST for the field, are in the bottom row(s) of icons. This type of anomaly tends to highlight high SSTs (the red shades) and low SSTs (the blue shades) in an area. The Northeast Shelf was generally near or slightly above average SST during January. Cooler water conditions can been seen in the Middle Atlantic Bight in April, May, and June, when most of the other portions of the Shelf were at or above average.

Place cursor over thumbnail to display detailed figure at the bottom