Universal structure of mesoscale eddies in the ocean. Issue 14 (30th July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Zhengguang; Zhang, Yu; Wang, Wei; Huang, Rin Xin
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 40:Issue 14(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 3677
• Page End: 3681
• Publication Date: 2013-07-30
• Subjects: Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/grl.50736
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="grl50736-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p id="grl50736-para-0001">[1] Mesoscale eddies dominate oceanic kinetic energy at sub‐initial frequencies. Their three‐dimensional structure has, however, remained obscure, hindering better understanding of eddy dynamics. Here by applying the composite analysis of satellite altimetry and Argo float data to the globe, we show that despite remarkable regional differences in amplitude, extent and polarity, etc., mesoscale eddies have a universal structure in normalized stretched coordinates. Horizontally, the associated pressure anomaly is well described by a function of the normalized radial distance from the eddy center R(r<sub>n</sub>)=(1−r<sub>n</sub><sup>2</sup>/2)· exp(−r<sub>n</sub><sup>2</sup>/2), whereas vertically it is sinusoidal in a stretched coordinate <alternatives><inline-graphic mimetype="image" xlink:href="ark:/27927/pgg371kmj17" xlink:type="simple" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" /><mml:math display="block" altimg="urn:x-wiley:grl:media:grl50736:grl50736-math-0001" overflow="scroll" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">z</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">s</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:munderover><mml:mrow><mml:mo>∫</mml:mo></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>0</mml:mn></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">z</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:munderover><mml:mo>(</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">N</mml:mi><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">f</mml:mi><mml:mspace width="0.3em" /><mml:mo>)</mml:mo><mml:mtext>dz</mml:mtext></mml:math></alternatives>, where N and f are the buoyancy frequency and the Coriolis parameter.</p> </abstract>