Global observations of large oceanic eddies

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 34; no. 15; pp. L15606 - n/a
• Main Authors: Chelton, Dudley B., Schlax, Michael G., Samelson, Roger M., de Szoeke, Roland A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Geophysical Union 01.08.2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: altimeter or altimetry; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; eddies; Eddies and mesoscale processes; Exact sciences and technology; Oceanography; Physical; Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes; Rossby waves; Sea level; sea surface height; variations and mean; World Ocean; Rossby waves; eddies; sea surface height; altimeter or altimetry; Rossby wave; amplitude; Mesoscale; Deflection; world ocean; Anticyclonic eddy; TOPEX/Poseidon satellite; global; Diameter; sea level; phase velocity
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2007GL030812

Ten years of sea‐surface height (SSH) fields constructed from the merged TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and ERS‐1/2 altimeter datasets are analyzed to investigate mesoscale variability in the global ocean. The higher resolution of the merged dataset reveals that more than 50% of the variability over much of the World Ocean is accounted for by eddies with amplitudes of 5–25 cm and diameters of 100–200 km. These eddies propagate nearly due west at approximately the phase speed of nondispersive baroclinic Rossby waves with preferences for slight poleward and equatorward deflection of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, respectively. The vast majority of the eddies are found to be nonlinear.