ISSN 2070-7401 (Print), ISSN 2411-0280 (Online)
Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa
CURRENT PROBLEMS IN REMOTE SENSING OF THE EARTH FROM SPACE

  

Sovremennye problemy distantsionnogo zondirovaniya Zemli iz kosmosa, 2012, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 173-185

Seasonal and interannual variability of submesoscale eddy activity in the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas

S.S. Karimova 
Space Research Institute of RAS
Due to their high spatial resolution, wide swath of observation, independence on cloud cover and light conditions
satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images present an effective tool for getting more information on submesoscale
eddies in the sea. Recently the advantages of SAR images were taken for retrieving statistics on submesoscale vortical
structures in the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas [Karimova S.S. Spiral eddies in the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas
as seen by satellite radar data // Advances in Space Research. 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2011.10.027]. The
dataset used in that analysis included over 2000 medium resolution Envisat ASAR and ERS-2 SAR images obtained in
2009-2010 in the different parts of the seas mentioned. The work presented hereafter is aimed to exclude the influence
of SAR density inhomogeneity on spatio-temporal parameters of submesoscale eddy activity in the basins being under
consideration. As a result of the analysis undertaken it was discovered that in some cases visible eddy activity seems to
depend on chlorophyll a concentration. A probable oceanographic factor which caused especially frequent detection of
eddies in certain regions was discovered to be shallow location of thermo- or halocline. The latter provided an evidence
for baroclinic instability to be a main reason for generation of submesoscale eddy clusters.
Keywords: submesoscale eddies, small-scale eddies, spiral eddies, baroclinic instability, satellite radar, Envisat ASAR, ERS-2 SAR, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea
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