Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas
Mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous in the world ocean and well researched both globally and regionally, while their properties and distributions across the whole Indonesian Seas are not yet fully understood. This study investigates for the first time the spatiotemporal variations and generation mechani...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/5/1017 |
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| author | Zhanjiu Hao Zhenhua Xu Ming Feng Qun Li Baoshu Yin |
| author_facet | Zhanjiu Hao Zhenhua Xu Ming Feng Qun Li Baoshu Yin |
| author_sort | Zhanjiu Hao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous in the world ocean and well researched both globally and regionally, while their properties and distributions across the whole Indonesian Seas are not yet fully understood. This study investigates for the first time the spatiotemporal variations and generation mechanisms of mesoscale eddies across the whole Indonesian Seas. Eddies are detected from altimetry sea level anomalies by an automatic identification algorithm. The Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Maluku Sea and Banda Sea are the main eddy generation regions. More than 80% of eddies are short-lived with a lifetime below 30 days. The properties of eddies exhibit high spatial inhomogeneity, with the typical amplitudes and radiuses of 2–6 cm and 50–160 km, respectively. The most energetic eddies are observed in the Sulawesi Sea and Seram Sea. Eddies feature different seasonal cycles between anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies in each basin, especially given that the average latitude of the eddy centroid has inverse seasonal variations. About 48% of eddies in the Sulawesi Sea are highly nonlinear, which is the case for less than 30% in the Sulu Sea and Banda Sea. Instability analysis is performed using high-resolution model outputs from Bluelink Reanalysis to assess mechanisms of eddy generation. Barotropic instability of the mean flow dominates eddy generation in the Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea, while baroclinic instability is slightly more in the Maluku Sea and Banda Sea. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:59:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17274ae12c0d4df0b2b63a9f289d8ac8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:59:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-17274ae12c0d4df0b2b63a9f289d8ac82023-12-03T13:00:42ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-03-01135101710.3390/rs13051017Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian SeasZhanjiu Hao0Zhenhua Xu1Ming Feng2Qun Li3Baoshu Yin4CAS Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaCSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, Crawley, WA 6009, AustraliaPolar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, ChinaMesoscale eddies are ubiquitous in the world ocean and well researched both globally and regionally, while their properties and distributions across the whole Indonesian Seas are not yet fully understood. This study investigates for the first time the spatiotemporal variations and generation mechanisms of mesoscale eddies across the whole Indonesian Seas. Eddies are detected from altimetry sea level anomalies by an automatic identification algorithm. The Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Maluku Sea and Banda Sea are the main eddy generation regions. More than 80% of eddies are short-lived with a lifetime below 30 days. The properties of eddies exhibit high spatial inhomogeneity, with the typical amplitudes and radiuses of 2–6 cm and 50–160 km, respectively. The most energetic eddies are observed in the Sulawesi Sea and Seram Sea. Eddies feature different seasonal cycles between anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies in each basin, especially given that the average latitude of the eddy centroid has inverse seasonal variations. About 48% of eddies in the Sulawesi Sea are highly nonlinear, which is the case for less than 30% in the Sulu Sea and Banda Sea. Instability analysis is performed using high-resolution model outputs from Bluelink Reanalysis to assess mechanisms of eddy generation. Barotropic instability of the mean flow dominates eddy generation in the Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea, while baroclinic instability is slightly more in the Maluku Sea and Banda Sea.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/5/1017mesoscale eddiesthe Indonesian Seassea level anomalynonlinearitybarotropic instabilitybaroclinic instability |
| spellingShingle | Zhanjiu Hao Zhenhua Xu Ming Feng Qun Li Baoshu Yin Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas Remote Sensing mesoscale eddies the Indonesian Seas sea level anomaly nonlinearity barotropic instability baroclinic instability |
| title | Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas |
| title_full | Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas |
| title_fullStr | Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas |
| title_short | Spatiotemporal Variability of Mesoscale Eddies in the Indonesian Seas |
| title_sort | spatiotemporal variability of mesoscale eddies in the indonesian seas |
| topic | mesoscale eddies the Indonesian Seas sea level anomaly nonlinearity barotropic instability baroclinic instability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/5/1017 |
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