Revista de Biología Tropical ISSN Impreso: 0034-7744 ISSN electrónico: 2215-2075

OAI: https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/oai
Climate of an oceanic island in the Eastern Pacific: Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, Central America
PDF
HTML

Keywords

Isla del Coco
Cocos Island
Costa Rica
Eastern Tropical Pacific
climate.
Isla del Coco
Costa Rica
Pacífico Tropical del Este
clima.

How to Cite

Alfaro, E. J., & Hidalgo, H. G. (2016). Climate of an oceanic island in the Eastern Pacific: Isla del Coco, Costa Rica, Central America. Revista De Biología Tropical, 64(S1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v64i1.23411

Abstract

Studies of atmosphere-ocean interaction in the Pacific of Costa Rican are scarce. To identify oceanographic systems that may be influencing climate near Cocos Island (Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape) we conducted six scientific expeditions between 2007 and 2012. Two automated weather stations were set near Chatham and Wafer bays during the expeditions. Data included records from National Meteorological Institute, Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) and Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST). The climate is typical of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Its seasonality is driven by precipitation variability associated with meridional migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The seasonal cycle has two peaks, in May and July, a relative minimum between them in June, and the absolute minimum in February. Most of the precipitation is recorded from April to November. Most rain events have short duration and low intensity. An SST trend was observed from January 1854 to December 2013, coherent with regional warming temperature observations. From 1998 to 2013 there were changes in distributions of almost all meteorological parameters. The combination of these factors resulted in higher evapotranspiration values through the daily cycle, especially during the night time. Precipitation (P) positive anomalies tended to be associated with positive air surface temperature (AST) and SST anomalies and negative global radiation (GR) anomalies. Negative P anomalies tended to be associated with negative AST, SST and positive GR anomalies. Relative humidity (RH) negative anomalies tend to be associated with positive wind speed (WS) anomalies, and the WS effect is opposite for positive RH anomalies. During the cold Niño 3 condition of October 2007, negative P, AST, SST and RH anomalies were observed in concordance with positive WS and GR anomalies, in agreement with the conceptual model of climate system response at Isla del Coco to cold ENSO conditions. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (Suppl. 1): S59-S74. Epub 2016 February 01.

 
https://doi.org/10.15517/rbt.v64i1.23411
PDF
HTML

References

Acuña-González, J., García-Céspedes, J., Gómez-Ramírez, E., Vargas-Zamora, J. A., & Cortés, J. (2008). Parámetros físico-químicos en aguas costeras de la Isla del Coco, Costa Rica (2001-2007). Revista de Biología Tropical, 56(Supplement 2), 49-56.

Adler, R. F., Huffman, G. J., Chang, A., Ferraro, R., Xie, P., Janowiak, J., Rudolf, B., Schneider, U., Curtis, S., Bolvin, D., Gruber, A., Susskind, J., & Arkin, P. (2003). The Version 2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present). Journal of Hydrometeorology, 4, 1147-1167.

Alfaro, E. J. (2008). Ciclo diario y anual de variables troposféricas y oceánicas en la Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 56 (Supplement 2), 19-29.

Alfaro, E. J., Cortés, J., Alvarado, J. J., Jiménez, C., Sánchez-Noguera, C., Nivia, J., León, A., & Ruiz, E. (2012). Clima y temperatura sub-superfical del mar en Bahía Culebra, Golfo de Papagayo, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 2), 159-171.

Amador, J. A., Alfaro, E. J., Lizano, O. G., & Magaña, V. O. (2006). Atmospheric forcing in the Eastern Tropical Pacific: A review. Progress in Oceanography, 69, 101-142.

Bindoff, N. L., Stott, P. A., AchutaRao, K. M., Allen, M. R., Gillett, N., Gutzler, D., Hansingo, K., Hegerl, G., Hu, Y., Jain, S., Mokhov, I. I., Overland, J., Perlwitz, J., Sebbari, R., & Zhang, X. (2013). Detection and attribution of climate change: from global to regional. In T. F. Stocker, D. Qin, G. K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S. K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex & P. M. Midgley (Eds.), Climate Change 2013: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 867-952). Cambridge, U.K. and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Cortés, J. (Ed.) (2008). Investigaciones marinas en la Isla del Coco, Costa Rica / Marine Research at Isla del Coco (Cocos Island), Costa Rica / Recherches marines à l’Ile du Coco, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 56(Supplement 2), 217 p.

Cortés, J. (2012a). Bibliografía anotada sobre organismos, ambientes y procesos marinos en Bahía Culebra, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 2), 231-242.

Cortés, J. (2012b). Bibliografía sobre investigaciones marinas, oceanográficas, geológicas y atmosféricas en el Parque Nacional Isla del Coco y aguas adyacentes, Pacífico de Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 3), 363-392.

Cortés, J. (Ed.) (2012c). Investigaciones marinas en el Parque Nacional Isla del Coco, Costa Rica / Marine Research at Isla del Coco National Park, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 3), 394 p.

Cortés, J. (2014). Compilación y análisis de las investigaciones científicas sobre temas marinos y atmosféricos en el Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 62(Supplement 4), 151-184.

Cortés, J., Morales, A., Alfaro, E., Lizano, O., & Acuña, J. (2010). Conocimiento y gestión de medios marinos y coralinos del Área de Conservación Marina Isla del Coco. (Manuales para el monitoreo. Cuadernillo Informativo 2). San José, Costa Rica: SINAC, GEF-PNUD y FFMAM.

Enfield, D. B, & Mestas-Nuñez, A. M. (1999). Multiscale variabilities in global sea surface temperatures and their relationships with tropospheric climate patterns. Journal of Climate, 12, 2719-2733.

Fernández, W. (1984). Comments on meteorological and climatological observations on Coco Island. Revista Geofísica, 20, 9-19.

Fiedler, P. C., & Lavin-Peregrina, M. F. (2006). Introduction: A review of eastern tropical Pacific oceanography. Progress in Oceanography, 69, 94-100.

Hastenrath, S. (1991). Climate Dynamics of the Tropics. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Henderson, S., Rodríguez, A. M., & McManus, R. (2008). A new future for marine conservation. Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape. (Technical Document). Virginia, U.S.: Conservation International. Retrieved from http://www.conservation.org/

Herrera, W. (1985). Consideraciones climáticas sobre la Isla del Coco. In W. Herrera (Ed.), Clima de Costa Rica (pp. 40-44). San José, Costa Rica: EUNED.

Hidalgo, H. G. (2013). Tendencias hacia condiciones hidrológicas más secas en Centroamérica (1982-2005). VII Congreso de la red Latinoamericana de Ciencias Ambientales, San Carlos, Costa Rica.

Huffman, G. J., Adler, R. F., Bolvin, D. T., Gu, G., Nelkin, E. J., Bowman, K. P., Hong, Y., Stocker, E. F., & Wolff, D. B. (2007). The TRMM Multi-satellite precipitation analysis: Quasi-Global, Multi-Year, combined-sensor precipitation estimates at fine scale. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 8, 38-55.

Lavin-Peregrina, M. F., Fiedler, P. C., Amador-Buenrostro, A., Ballance, L., Farber-Lorda, J., & Mestas-Núñez, A. (2006). A review of the eastern tropical Pacific oceanography: Summary. Progress in Oceanography, 69, 391-398.

Lizano, O., & Alfaro, E. (2004). Algunas características de las corrientes marinas en Golfo de Nicoya. Revista de Biología Tropical, 52(Supplement 2), 77-94.

Lizano, O. G., & Alfaro, E. (2014). Dinámica atmosférica y oceánica en algunos sitios del Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 62(Supplement 4), 17-31.

Maldonado, T., & Alfaro, E. (2012). Revisión y comparación de escenarios de Cambio Climático para el Parque Nacional Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 3), 83-112.

Mestas-Nuñez, A. M., & Enfield, D. B. (1999). Rotated global modes of non-ENSO sea surface temperature variability. Journal of Climate, 12, 2734-2746.

Morales-Ramírez, Á, Acuña-González, J., Lizano, O., Alfaro, E., & Gómez, E. (2015). Rasgos oceanográficos en el Golfo Dulce, Pacífico de Costa Rica: una revisión para la toma de decisiones en conservación marina. Revista de Biología Tropical, 63(Supplement 1): 131-160.

Pittier, H. F. (1898). Apuntamientos preliminares sobre la Isla del Coco, posesión costarricense en el Océano Pacífico. In Reproducciones Científicas, una Expedición y Legislación de la Isla del Coco, 1963 (pp. 15-28). San José, Costa Rica: Instituto Geográfico de Costa Rica, Ministerio de Transportes.

Protti, M., González, V., Freymuller, J., & Doelger, S. (2012). Isla del Coco, on Cocos Plate, converges with Isla de San Andrés, on the Caribbean Plate, at 78mm/yr. Revista de Biología Tropical, 60(Supplement 3), 33­41.

Quirós-Badilla, E., & Alfaro, E. (2009). Algunos aspectos relacionados con la variabilidad climática en la Isla del Coco, Costa Rica. Revista de Climatología, 9, 33-44.

Smith, T. M., Reynolds, R. W., Peterson, T. C., & Lawrimore, J. (2008). Improvements to NOAA’s historical merged land-ocean surface temperature analysis (1880-2006). Journal of Climate, 21, 2283-2296.

Comments

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2016 Revista de Biología Tropical

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.