Signature of mesoscale eddies in satellite sea surface salinity data

Abstract

A persistent signature of coherent mesoscale eddies in sea surface salinity (SSS) is revealed by analyzing the relationship between satellite SSS and sea surface height (SSH) variability in an eddy-following reference frame. Our analysis focuses on mid-ocean eddies in two representative regions, the southern Indian Ocean and the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. The resulting composite averages reveal a clear signature of mesoscale eddies in satellite SSS with typical SSS anomalies of 0.03–0.05 psu. The spatial structure of eddy-induced SSS perturbations can be characterized as a superposition of a dipole structure, arising from horizontal advection of the background SSS gradient by eddy velocity field, and a monopole structure related to the eddy core. The observed relationships between SSS and SSH anomalies are used to provide a regional assessment of the role of mesoscale eddies in the ocean freshwater transport in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.