Tracking mesoscale ocean features in the Caribbean Sea using Geosat Altimetry

Abstract

The authors use Geosat Exact Repeat Mission altimetry data to track mesoscale ocean features in the Caribbean Sea. Because of the topography of the basin extensive mesoscale features exist, and have been studied and modeled. Models indicate the presence of eddy flow patterns in parts of the basin. The meteorology of the region is dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, which shifts with the seasons. It has been shown that the seasonal wind stress curl positively correlates with total volume transport through the Caribbean Sea. Satellite altimetry provides an accepted means of studying mesoscale features of ocean dynamics which vary with time. The data reveals the appearance of two anticyclonic features, one each year, which appear and drift westward at speed considerably less that surface flow speeds. It also indicates the presence of a cyclonic feature in the southwest corner of the Columbian basin which varies with time. Marine geoid corrections unfortunately remove any features which are not time dependent from the data.