Temporal-space characterization of satellite sea surface temperature in tourist destinations: Partido de la costa, Pinamar and Villa Gesell, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

The coastal spaces are fragile and complex areas that receive strong pressure because of the many uses and activities that are developed in them. The tourism of sun and beaches is one of the main economic practices present in these spaces that value the physical-natural conditions and their environmental variables. Of all of them, the sea surface temperature (SST) has been the least studied variable, especially associated to tourist destinations. The coastal zone of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, concentrates numerous tourist centers like the Partido de la Costa, Pinamar and Villa Gesell that attract in the summer time, a great flow of population. The objective of the present paper was to perform a descriptive and comparative analysis of SST in these parties through the use of monthly satellite images obtained by the Aqua-MODIS satellite-sensor during the period 2003-2013. The results showed a spatial and seasonal behavior of the SST differentiated for the entire study area. The SST for the warm period (January-March) ranged between 21.5 - 24.5°C and for the cold (July-September) between 9.4 - 11.5°C. This difference was lower in the cold period, allowing distinguishing 3 thermal zones with variations smaller than 0.5°C between them: Costa Norte, Costa Centro- Costa Sur, and Pinamar-Villa Gesell. The warm period presented more intense spatial thermal variations between the studied tourist destinations. Four thermal zones with 0.5°C differences were identified: Costa Norte, Costa Centro, Costa Sur, and Pinamar-Villa Gesell.