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Dynamics of Eddy Generation in the Southeast Tropical Indian Ocean
Author(s) -
Wang Xuan,
Cheng Xuhua,
Liu Xiaohui,
Chen Dake
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1029/2020jc016858
Subject(s) - thermocline , eddy , geology , climatology , baroclinity , mesoscale meteorology , forcing (mathematics) , oceanography , ocean dynamics , anomaly (physics) , ocean current , meteorology , turbulence , geography , physics , condensed matter physics
Satellite observations indicate that the southeast tropical Indian Ocean (SETIO) is a region full of eddies, which are generated near 120°E and propagate westward/southwestward. The vertical structure of eddies shows that eddy‐induced temperature anomalies are mainly confined within the upper 200 m. The maximum anomaly is located at ∼100 m depth, near the depth of the thermocline, indicating that eddy generation is related to vertical motions of the thermocline. To further investigate the generation mechanisms of mesoscale eddies, we obtain a suite of solutions of the 1½‐layer reduced gravity model, which can capture the first baroclinic process quite well. The solutions suggest that wind forcing from the tropical Pacific Ocean and nonlinearity play important roles in eddy generation in the SETIO.