CoAuthors

Eric Leuliette (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States); Deirdre Byrne (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States)

Mesoscale eddies play a major role in upper ocean circulation and dynamics and have a significant impact on biophysical and biogeochemical processes. In the California Current System, cross-shelf transport, nutrient cycling, and biological productivity are all heavily influenced by mesoscale eddy activity. Using near-real time (NRT) satellite observations from NOAA daily gridded sea level anomalies from the Radar Altimeter Database System (RADS), geostrophic currents, and eddy kinetic energy, NOAA Geo-Polar Blended Sea Surface Temperature Analysis, NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) version 5.0 sea surface salinity processed by JPL, and NOAA/CoastWatch NRT VIIRS multi-sensor chlorophyll DINEOF gap-filled analysis, these eddies can be operationally tracked and characterized in order to monitor related processes. Here multiparameter mesoscale eddy tracking is applied to the California Current System in order to analyze the impact of these eddies on nutrient pumping and biogeochemical processes in the region. An additional observational Multiparameter Eddy Significance Index (MESI) is introduced for biophysical and biogeochemical analysis and demonstrates how this multiparameter mesoscale eddy tracking methodology can be used to monitor upper ocean processes, primary productivity, and ocean acidification. The correlation between MESI and the observed variability in near-surface nutrients is shown to be in excess of 85% in the research area. This eddy tracking includes twenty observational and calculated tracked variables spanning 2018-2021 with features that allow for advanced monitoring and analysis of mesoscale eddies. Multiparameter mesoscale eddy tracking is a candidate product for CoastWatch with broad oceanographic applications for both operational and research fields.