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);
MESOSCALE EDDIES
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.
EDDIES