Time and Length Scales of Baroclinic Eddies in the Central North Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Abstract The time and length scales of baroclinic eddies in the eastern half of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre are examined using four data sets: 1) single vertical sections of temperature, based on closely spaced bathy-thermograph (BT) casts (cast spacing 100 km. The spectra attenuate toward higher wavenumbers as the square of the wavenumber over the range 200 to 600 km. Spatial autocorrelation in both horizontal dimensions of the second data set yields a correlation matrix with a first zero crossing at 150 km in both dimensions, im...