Applicability of T-S algorithms to the Canary Islands region

The high cost of oceanographic cruises often makes it advisable to use oppo rtunity vessels for simple measurements, such as determining the temperatur e of the water column with expandable bathythermographs (XBT). In this work we examine the goodness and reliability of a method aimed at obtaining the maximum possible information from XBT data, and we apply it to the Canary Islands region. It consists in calculating analytic relations between tempe rature and salinity from historical conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) da ta for the region, which are then used to hindcast/forecast the salinity an d density distribution, as well as the distribution of other inferred quant ities such as velocity. A hindcasting is carried out using direct independe nt temperature measurements obtained from a hydrographic cruise south of th e island of Gran Canaria. At depths greater than 100-150 m the results show good agreement with the calculations obtained from CTD in situ data.