Seasonal and Interannual Modulation of the Eddy Kinetic Energy in the Caribbean Sea

Variability of the mesoscale eddy field in the Caribbean Sea is analyzed over the period 1993–2009 using geostrophic anomalies derived from altimeter data and a high-resolution regional model. The Colombia Basin presents the largest values of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) and its semiannual cycle, with a main peak in August–October and a secondary peak in February–March, is the dominant feature in the whole Caribbean EKE cycle. The analysis of energy conversion terms between low-frequency currents and eddies explains these peaks by enhanced baroclinic and barotropic instabilities, in response to seasonally varying currents in the region of the Guajira Peninsula. The semiannual acceleration of the atmospheric Caribbean low-level jet intensifies the southern Caribbean Current (sCC) twice a year in this region, together with its vertical and horizontal velocity shears. The asymmetry of the EKE seasonal cycle in the Colombia Basin is explained by a summer peak in the annual cycle of the whole sCC. Numerical results suggest that the arrival of more energetic North Brazil Current rings during part of the year have almost no impact on the seasonal cycle of EKE in the Colombia Basin. Instead, they are shown to contribute, together with the annual cycle of the Caribbean inflow through the southern passages of the Lesser Antilles, to an annual peak of EKE in the Venezuela Basin between May and August. At the interannual scale the mechanism is similar: interannual variability of the alongshore wind stress controls the speed of the southern Caribbean Current and the energy of the eddies in the Colombia Basin through instability.