Large Mesoscale Eddies in the Western Arctic Ocean From Satellite Altimetry Measurements

Abstract

AbstractEddies in the Western Arctic play an important role in transporting heat, salt, and biogeochemical tracers across the continental shelf and within the deep basins. However, comprehensive observations of the regional and temporal variability of the eddy field characteristics are difficult to obtain remotely due to the presence of sea ice, and the available in situ observations remain relatively sparse. Nonetheless, with continuing global warming, increasingly large areas of the Arctic Ocean become seasonally ice‐free and can be observed with remote sensing. Here, we use satellite altimetry data acquired between 1993 and 2018 over the seasonally ice‐free Western Arctic Ocean to detect the signatures and hot spots of large mesoscale eddies, validating their detection method using independent optical and infrared satellite observations. The altimetry measurements were most frequent from July to October, revealing signatures of over 2000 individual eddies that were roughly equally partitioned between cyclones and anticyclones, with radii between 20 and 60 km and characteristic orbital velocities of about 0.05–0.4 m/s. A maximum number of eddies were detected in October in the Beaufort Sea and in November in the Chukchi Sea. The interannual variability of eddies in the Beaufort Sea is correlated with variations of intensity and freshwater content in the Beaufort Gyre. Using the regional eddy statistics, we discuss the potential eddy formation mechanisms over the key regions of their observations in the Amundsen Gulf, the area adjacent to the Mackenzie River mouth, the western part of the Beaufort Sea, and the Chukchi Sea.