Annual and Interannual Variability of the Tropical Instability Vortices in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific Observed from Lagrangian Surface Drifters

Abstract

Abstract This study documents the spatial distributions and temporal variations of anticyclonic eddies with identified radii ≥100 km in the equatorial eastern tropical Pacific Ocean [viz., tropical instability vortices (TIVs)] using Lagrangian surface drifters. The TIVs identified from Lagrangian surface drifters are distributed in a band along 5°N and are closely associated with latitudinal barotropically unstable shear between the westward South Equatorial Current (SEC) and the eastward North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC). Fewer TIVs are identified from February to June when the shear between the SEC and NECC is weak, whereas more TIVs are found from July to January when the shear is enhanced. The number of identified TIVs also exhibits substantial interannual variability, with fewer TIVs identified during El Niño events and more TIVs found during La Niña events. This relationship is likely associated with the interannual variations of the zonal circulation in the equatorial Pacific modulated by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).