“Implications of Refined Altimetry on the Estimates of Mesoscale Activity and Eddy­-Driven Offshore Transport in the Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems” by Capet et al., has been published in Geophysical Research Letters

Dr. Arthur Capet from IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), in collaboration with researchers from IFISC and SOCIB recently published the results of a new study entitled “Implications of Refined Altimetry on the Estimates of Mesoscale Activity and Eddy-­Driven Offshore Transport in the Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems”. This publication revisits previous estimates of mesoscale activity and eddy­-driven offshore transport using a new altimetric product.

The important contribution of mesoscale eddies to oceanic fluxes is well known. Traveling eddies trap water in their cores and, hence, transport mass, physical properties and biogeochemical tracers along paths that do not necessarily follow large ­scale circulation patterns. Eddy-­driven transport is therefore an essential regulator of global climate and oceanic productivity.

The authors showed that in the Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems (see boxes in the figure), with the new altimetry product released in April 2014, more eddies are detected (+37%) but with a tendency for smaller eddy radii. Estimates of the eddy transport return a lower westward eddy transport (-12%) in comparison with the previous version (lower resolution) of the altimetry product.

Figure: Global map of sea surface elevation. Red colors indicate positive anomalies typical of anticyclonic eddies and blue colors indicate negative anomalies caused by cyclonic eddies; colored l ines represent their trajectories. Gray shading highlights the four Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems for which eddy-induced offshore transport has been evaluated.
 
  • Citation: Capet A., E. Mason, V. Rossi, C. Troupin, Y. Faugère, I.Pujol and A. Pascual, 2014. Implications of Refined Altimetry on the Estimates of Mesoscale Activity and Eddy-­Driven Offshore Transport in the Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems, Geophysical Research Letters, 41 (21), 7602–7610, doi:10.1002/2014GL061770.