Walking on the sea side: Modeling and observational efforts of the Iberian Margin Ocean Observatory (RAIA)

The Iberian Margin Ocean Observatory (RAIA) was born in 2009 with the aim of reinforcing the coastal observational infrastructure along the Atlantic margin of the Euro-region Galicia-Northern Portugal. This contribution is intended to illustrate the ability of a high-resolution ocean model configuration (~1.3 km) operationally ran in the frame of the Observatory to capture the oceanographic variability of the system during winter and summer 2010. During winter, strong showers feed river plumes and contribute to develop strong currents in the inner shelf, up to 1 m s^-1 during southerly winds associated to front arrival. During summer, persistent upwelling favorable winds cause the uplift of cold waters over the shelf. The surface thermal signal of the subsurface upwelled water was observed from mid June to mid October both in satellite images and model results, accompanied by the presence of filaments off Cape Finisterre.