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Eddy properties in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean from satellite altimetry data

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Abstract

Mesoscale eddies play a key role in the ocean dynamics of the Southern Ocean, and eddy response to the climate changes has also been widely noted. Both eddy kinetic energy (EKE) and eddy detection algorithm are used to study the eddy properties in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean. Consistent with previous works, the maps of the EKE illustrate that higher energy confines to the Antarctic Polar Frontal Zone (APFZ) and decreases progressively from west to east. It also shows that the most significant increase in the EKE occurs in the western and central parts of the Pacific sector, where the baroclinicity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is much stronger. Statistical eddy properties reveal that both of the spatial pattern and interannual variation of the EKE are primarily due to the eddy amplitude and the eddy rotational speed, rather than the eddy number or the eddy radius. In general, these results furtherly confirm that anomalous westerly wind forcing associated with the positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index enhances the Southern Ocean eddy activity by strengthening the eddy properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ocean and Climate Research, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Yongliang Duan & Weidong Yu

  2. Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Yongliang Duan & Weidong Yu

  3. Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Hongwei Liu & Yijun Hou

Authors
  1. Yongliang Duan
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  2. Hongwei Liu
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  3. Weidong Yu
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  4. Yijun Hou
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Correspondence to Hongwei Liu.

Additional information

Foundation item: The Chinese Polar Science Strategy Research Foundation under contract No. 20150305; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41406012; the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. ZR2014DP011; the Basic Scientific Research Fund for National Public Institutes of China under contract No. 2015G05; the Open Fund of the Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Chinese Academy of Sciences under contract No. KLOCAW1405.

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Duan, Y., Liu, H., Yu, W. et al. Eddy properties in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean from satellite altimetry data. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 35, 28–34 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0946-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0946-2

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