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... > Science Keywords > EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CIRCULATION > EDDIES > MESOSCALE EDDIES

Preferred term

MESOSCALE EDDIES  

Definition

  • Ocean mesoscale eddies are the “weather” of the ocean, with typical horizontal scales of less than 100 km and timescales on the order of a month. The mesoscale eddy field includes coherent vortices, as well as a rich cascade of other structures such as filaments, squirts and spirals. The mesoscale field is characterized by temperature and salinity anomalies with associated flow anomalies that are nearly in geostrophic balance. Although only the surface expression of mesoscale eddies is visible in satellite images of sea surface height or temperature, they are in fact three dimensional structures that reach down into the pycnocline. A special class of eddies, known as meddies (Mediterranean eddies), are predominantly sub-surface lenses of salty water that form off the Atlantic coast of Spain/Portugal from the deep Mediterranean outflow. (en)

Broader concept

Change note

  • 2021-10-20 09:23:02.0 [tstevens] Insert Concept add broader relation (MESOSCALE EDDIES [fc95c990-47cb-4087-a08f-235dd1eb1260,778210] - EDDIES [13927300-c59c-491a-91f3-f1540bcb2d8d,775448]);
  • 2021-10-21 11:23:06.0 [tstevens] insert Definition (id: null text: Ocean mesoscale eddies are the “weather” of the ocean, with typical horizontal scales of less than 100 km and timescales on the order of a month. The mesoscale eddy field includes coherent vortices, as well as a rich cascade of other structures such as filaments, squirts and spirals. The mesoscale field is characterized by temperature and salinity anomalies with associated flow anomalies that are nearly in geostrophic balance. Although only the surface expression of mesoscale eddies is visible in satellite images of sea surface height or temperature, they are in fact three dimensional structures that reach down into the pycnocline. A special class of eddies, known as meddies (Mediterranean eddies), are predominantly sub-surface lenses of salty water that form off the Atlantic coast of Spain/Portugal from the deep Mediterranean outflow. language code: en);

URI

https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/fc95c990-47cb-4087-a08f-235dd1eb1260

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