Seasonal Variation of Intra-Seasonal Eddy Kinetic Energy along the East Australian Current

Abstract

By using satellite altimeter observations and the eddy-permitting Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II (ECCO2), the seasonal variation of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) along the East Australian Current (EAC) is investigated. Both observations and ECCO2 outputs indicate active intra-seasonal EKE along the EAC path. The ECCO2 result reveals that the intra-seasonal EKE is mainly concentrated in the upper 500 m layer, and shows a prominent seasonal cycle, strong in austral summer and weak in austral winter. Eddy energy budget diagnosis reveals that the evolution of EKE is controlled by barotropic instability of the mean EAC. The seasonal variation of baroclinic instability is opposite to the barotropic instability variation, but of a much smaller magnitude. Further analysis indicates that the seasonal cycle of mesoscale signals in this region is related to the transport variability of the EAC.