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Global observations of large oceanic eddies
Author(s) -
Chelton Dudley B.,
Schlax Michael G.,
Samelson Roger M.,
de Szoeke Roland A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl030812
Subject(s) - eddy , geology , anticyclone , baroclinity , altimeter , rossby wave , sea surface height , climatology , mesoscale meteorology , ocean surface topography , oceanography , amplitude , geodesy , meteorology , geography , physics , turbulence , quantum mechanics
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.