ocean eddies Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

It is my great honour to welcome you on behalf of the Bureau of IUTAM to this Symposium on Hamiltonian dynamics, vortex structures and turbulence. The Symposium has been in preparation for two years, and I congratulate our hosts here at... more

It is my great honour to welcome you on behalf of the Bureau of IUTAM to this Symposium on Hamiltonian dynamics, vortex structures and turbulence. The Symposium has been in preparation for two years, and I congratulate our hosts here at the Steklov Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences for having prepared an excellent and wide-ranging programme, and for having succeeded in attracting such a distinguished gathering to debate problems in fluid dynamics many of which have a long history, yet still today present many challenges of a fundamental nature. The letters IUTAM, as you all know, stand for the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. This Union is one of the International Scientific Union members of ICSU, the International Council for Science, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary. The roots of IUTAM itself go back to the early Congresses in Mechanics, the first of which was held in Delft in the Netherlands, in 1924. IUTAM was formally established as an International Union at the 7th Congress, which was held in London in 1948. The 13th Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics was held here in Moscow in 1972, under the Presidency of the great Mushkhelishvili. The most recent 21st Congress was held in Warsaw in 2004, and the next will be held in Adelaide, South Australia, in 2008.
Professor Keith Moffatt, Vice-President, IUTAM

Abstract Using two dimensional continuous wavelet transforms, a novel method for identification of mesoscale eddies is presented to facilitate extraction of characteristics for area, amplitude, type, and location from maps of sea level... more

Abstract Using two dimensional continuous wavelet transforms, a novel method for identification of mesoscale eddies is presented to facilitate extraction of characteristics for area, amplitude, type, and location from maps of sea level anomalies. In comparison with the previously established growing method for eddy identification, it is found that the wavelet method identifies more than twice the number of eddies and is particularly better at resolving small eddies down to the 0.25 degree resolution of the data. Such research into eddy identification and tracking is significant to the assessment of eddies with potential to impact on coastlines of small islands. The method is applied to the identification of eddies on tracks towards islands of the Eastern Caribbean over 23 years. Spatial and temporal variation in rate of occurrence and magnitude is established. For Barbados there is an average of 9 anticyclonic incidents a year with maximum amplitude of typically 0.22 m in the dry seasons and 0.16 m in the wet seasons. Seasonal variation is reversed for the other islands with twice the number of anticyclonic incidents having maximum amplitudes of about 0.20 m annually.

In the northeastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean, at depths of 500–1500 m, there are regular intrathermocline eddies that are characterized by high temperature and salinity. As these eddies interact with the ambient medium, they can... more

In the northeastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean, at depths of 500–1500 m, there are regular intrathermocline eddies that are characterized by high temperature and salinity. As these eddies interact with the ambient medium, they can transmit a dynamic signal to the ocean surface. These eddies are clearly identifiable on altimetric maps showing variations in the ocean’s surface level obtained by satellites. Such observations allow recording not only the complex interaction pattern of surface cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, but also the processes of merging and separation of intrathermocline eddies.