Insights into mesoscale eddy dynamics: a three-dimensional perspective on potential density anomalies

Barabinot, Yan; Speich, Sabrina; Carton, Xavier

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2527-2025

Articles | Volume 21, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2527-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2527-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 5

Research article

| Highlight paper

|

20 Oct 2025

Research article | Highlight paper |

| 20 Oct 2025

Insights into mesoscale eddy dynamics: a three-dimensional perspective on potential density anomalies

Yan Barabinot, Sabrina Speich, and Xavier Carton

Data sets

Concatenated Temperature, Salinity, and Velocity measurements from EUREC4A_OA/ATOMIC Pierre L'Hégaret et al. https://doi.org/10.17882/92071

AtlantOS data products from multibeam EM122 data: METEOR cruise M124 (Atlantic) Anne-Cathrin Wölfl and Martin Schade https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.902947

Physical oceanography during METEOR cruise M124 Johannes Karstensen and Gerd Krahmann https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.863015

Raw multibeam EM122 data: METEOR cruise M124 (SE Atlantic) Johannes Karstensen and Anne-Cathrin Wölfl https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.869740

Physindien 2011 Seasoar measurements Pierre L'Hégaret and Xavier Carton https://doi.org/10.17882/77351

Short summary

Mesoscale eddies, characterized by rotating currents, are ubiquitous in the ocean. However, their three-dimensional structure remains poorly observed and analyzed, with transport estimates often relying on approximations. To better quantify their shape, we propose a new theoretical framework based on geophysical fluid dynamics and apply it to field observations.