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A near-global climatology of oceanic coherent eddies
  • Josué Martínez-Moreno,
  • Andrew McC. Hogg,
  • Matthew H. England
Josué Martínez-Moreno
Australian National University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Andrew McC. Hogg
Australian National University
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Matthew H. England
University of New South Wales
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Abstract

Ocean eddies influence regional and global climate through mixing and transport of heat and properties. One of the most recognizable and ubiquitous feature of oceanic eddies are coherent vortices with spatial scales of tens to hundreds of kilometers, frequently referred as “mesoscale eddies”. Coherent mesoscale eddies are known to transport properties across the ocean and to locally affect near-surface wind, cloud properties, and rainfall patterns. Although coherent eddies are ubiquitous, their climatology, seasonality, and long-term temporal evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we examine the kinetic energy contained by coherent eddies and present the seasonal, interannual and long-term variability using satellite observations between 1993 to 2019. A total of $\sim$37 million coherent eddies are detected in this analysis. Around 50% of the kinetic energy contained by ocean eddies corresponds to coherent eddies. Additionally, a strong seasonal cycle is observed, with a 3-6 months lag between the wind forcing and the response of the coherent eddy field. The seasonality of the number of coherent eddies and their amplitude reveals that the number of coherent eddies responds faster to the forcing ($\sim$3 months), than the coherent eddy amplitude (which lags by $\sim$6 months). This seasonal cycle is spatially variable, so we also analyze their climatology in key oceanic regions. Our analysis highlights the relative importance of the coherent eddy field in the ocean kinetic energy budget, implies a strong response of the eddy number and eddy amplitude to forcing at different time-scales, and showcases the seasonality, and multidecadal trends of coherent eddy properties.