Articles | Volume 21, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2763-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-2763-2025
Research article
 | 
04 Nov 2025
Research article |  | 04 Nov 2025

Merging of a mesoscale eddy into the Lofoten Vortex in the Norwegian Sea captured by an ocean glider and SWOT observations

Gillian M. Damerell, Anthony Bosse, and Ilker Fer

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Cited articles

Andersson, M., Orvik, K. A., LaCasce, J. H., Koszalka, I., and Mauritzen, C.: Variability of the Norwegian Atlantic Current and associated eddy field from surface drifters, J. Geophys. Res., 116, C08032, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JC007078, 2011. a
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Belonenko, T. V., Bashmachnikov, I. L., Koldunov, A. V., and Kuibin, P. A.: On the vertical velocity component in the mesoscale Lofoten vortex of the Norwegian Sea, Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys., 53, 641–649, https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433817060032, 2017. a, b
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Short summary
The Lofoten Vortex is an unusual feature in the ocean: a permanent eddy which does not dissipate as most eddies do. We have long thought that other eddies must merge into the vortex in order to maintain its heat content and energetics, but such mergers are very difficult to observe due to their transient, unpredictable nature. For the first time, we have observed a merger using an ocean glider and high-resolution satellite data and can document how the merger affects the properties of the vortex.
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