Aug 2026· Remote Sensing· 0 citations· 45 references
Abstract
Utilizing two-dimensional sea level anomalies from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide-swath altimeter, we conduct a global census of fine-scale eddies (with equivalent radii < 30 km) that are beyond the resolution capacity of traditional altimeters. We find that these eddies are concentrated in regions with energetic mesoscale currents such as western boundary current extensions, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and prominent interior frontal zones. While these eddies are smaller than classical mesoscale eddies (O(100) km), they exhibit dynamics distinct from the mesoscale, including a pronounced winter peak in occurrence frequency and a striking dominance of cyclonic over anticyclonic polarities. A global composite reveals a net enhancing effect of these fine-scale eddies on surface chlorophyll-a (approximately +7% within eddy cores relative to surrounding waters). Our findings shed light on the dynamical characteristics and surface chlorophyll-a signatures of fine-scale ocean eddies, necessitating their adequate representation in next-generation ocean models.
This study presents a novel cyclostrophic balance correction method for estimating submesoscale ocean surface currents in the Northern Arabian Sea using surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) mission altimetry. High-resolution Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3) data from the EOS-06 satellite reveal fine-scale eddies and fi...
Neeraj Agarwal, Aditya Chaudhary, J. M. et al.· IEEE Journal of Selected Top...· 0 citations
The advanced 2-D sea surface height (SSH) observations from the surface water and ocean topography (SWOT) satellite have achieved a global average geoid resolution better than 13 km, as estimated from spectral analysis of adjacent single-cycle observations. However, in regions with complex oceanic dynamics (the ocean o...
Si-Hai Zhao, Sheng-Jun Zhang, Xiang-Xue Kong et al.· IEEE Transactions on Geoscie...· 0 citations
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission has revealed high‐frequency sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) variability associated with internal gravity waves, yet comparison with in situ observations remains limited. Here, we analyze a mooring array beneath the swaths of SWOT Cal/Val south of New Caledonia, an...
Arne Bendinger, C. Vic, Michel Tchilibou et al.· Geophysical Research Letters· 0 citations
Mesoscale eddies play a key role in regulating oceanic physical and biogeochemical environments. However, their influence on vertical oxygen distribution remains poorly constrained by observations. Using 32 years (1993–2024) of in situ oxygen observations from the Bermuda Atlantic Time‐series Study site combined with s...
Peiyao Zhang, Weikang Zhan, Zhenting Mo et al.· Geophysical Research Letters· 0 citations
Mesoscale eddies in the Southern Ocean extend from the surface to the deep ocean and contribute to regional and global ocean heat budgets. However, sparse in situ observations have limited estimates of eddy meridional heat transport (EMHT) to the near surface, leaving deep-ocean processes poorly understood. Here we qua...
Tong-Ya Liu, Xiao-Ming Zhai, Qingyou He et al.· Nature Communications· 0 citations
