Abstract
Coastal mesoscale eddies are important oceanic structures partially responsible for regulating ocean-shelf exchanges. However, their description and characterization are challenging; observations are often too scarce for studying their physical properties and environmental impacts at the required spatio-temporal resolution. Therefore, models and data extrapolation methods are key tools for this purpose. Observations from high-frequency radar, one satellite and two gliders, are used here to better characterize the three-dimensional structure of a coastal mode-water eddy from a multiplatform approach in the southeastern Bay of Biscay in spring 2018. After the joint analysis of the observations, a three-dimensional data reconstruction method is applied to reconstruct the eddy current velocity field and estimate the associated water volume transport. The target eddy is detected by surface observations (high-frequency radar and satellite) for two weeks and presents similar dimensions and lifetimes as other eddies studied previously in the same location. However, this is the first time that the water column properties are also observed for this region, which depicts a mode-water eddy behavior, i.e., an uplift of the isopycnals in the near-surface and a downlift deeper in the water column. The reconstructed upper water column (1–100 m) eddy dynamics agree with the geostrophic dynamics observed by one of the gliders and result in cross-shelf inshore (offshore) volume transports between 0.04 (−0.01) and 0.15 (−0.11) Sv. The multiplatform data approach and the data reconstruction method are here highlighted as useful tools to characterize and three-dimensionally reconstruct coastal mesoscale processes in coastal areas.
Highlights
In recent years, several studies have investigated the impact of coastal eddies on oceanshelf exchanges (e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6]), coastal water retention [5,7], as well as the eddy contribution to nutrient and phytoplankton transport in coastal areas (e.g., [1,8,9]) as a key element for primary production
The location of the anticyclonic eddy core was tracked in the high-frequency radar (HFR) low pass filtered (LP) fields by the position of the maximum relative vorticity (Figure 1b)
A coastal mode-water eddy has been characterized in 3D and, despite showing slightly smaller scales, the general characteristics were similar to those found in the literature at open water regions nearby
Summary
Several studies have investigated the impact of coastal eddies on oceanshelf exchanges (e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6]), coastal water retention [5,7], as well as the eddy contribution to nutrient and phytoplankton transport in coastal areas (e.g., [1,8,9]) as a key element for primary production These studies show that knowledge of the coastal eddy field is crucial for a good understanding of physical and ecological processes in the coastal ocean. Observations can be used to inter-/extrapolate information in areas of interest
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