Estimation of geostrophic current in the Red Sea based on sea level anomalies derived from extended satellite altimetry data
<p>Geostrophic current data near the coast of the Red Sea have large gaps. Hence, the sea level anomaly (SLA) data from Jason-2 have been reprocessed and extended towards the coast of the Red Sea and merged with AVISO data at the offshore region. This processing has been applied to build a gri...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Ocean Science |
| Online Access: | https://www.ocean-sci.net/15/477/2019/os-15-477-2019.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Geostrophic current data near the coast of the Red Sea have large gaps.
Hence, the sea level anomaly (SLA) data from Jason-2 have been reprocessed and
extended towards the coast of the Red Sea and merged with AVISO data at the
offshore region. This processing has been applied to build a gridded dataset
to achieve the best results for the SLA and geostrophic current. The results
obtained from the new extended data at the coast are more consistent with the
observed data (conductivity–temperature–depth, CTD) and hence geostrophic current calculation. The patterns
of SLA distribution and geostrophic currents are divided into two seasons:
winter (October–May) and summer (June–September). The geostrophic currents
in summer are flowing southward over the Red Sea except for narrow
northward flow along the east coast. In winter, currents flow to the north
for the entire Red Sea except for a small southward flow near the central
eastern and western coast. This flow is modified by the presence of cyclonic
and anticyclonic eddies, which are more concentrated in the central and
northern Red Sea. The results show anticyclonic eddies (AEs) on the eastern
side of the Red Sea and cyclonic eddies (CEs) on the western side during
winter. In summer, cyclonic eddies are more dominant for the entire Red Sea.
The result shows a change in some eddies from anticyclonic during winter to
cyclonic during summer in the north between 26.3 and 27.5<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> N.
Furthermore, the life span of cyclonic eddies is longer than that of
anticyclonic eddies.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1812-0784 1812-0792 |