Paper| Year: | 2018 |
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| Author(s): | A. Rubio, A. Caballero, A. Orfila, I. Hernández-Carrasco, L. Ferrer, M. González, L. Solabarrieta, J. Mader |
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| Title: | Eddy-induced cross-shelf export of high Chl-a coastal waters in the SE Bay of Biscay |
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| Journal: | REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT |
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| ISSN: | 0034-4257 |
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| Volume: | 205 |
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| Pages: | 290-304 |
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| D.O.I.: | 10.1016/j.rse.2017.10.037 |
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| Web: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.10.037 |
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| Abstract: | © 2017 Elsevier Inc. Different remote sensing data were combined to characterise a winter anticyclonic eddy in the southeastern Bay of Biscay and to infer its effects on cross-shelf exchanges, in a period when typical along shelf-slope currents depict a cyclonic pattern. While the joint analysis of available satellite data (infrared, visible and altimetry) permitted the characterisation and tracking of the anticyclone properties and path, data from a coastal high-frequency radar system enabled a quantitative analysis of the surface cross-shelf transports associated with this anticyclone. The warm core anticyclone had a diameter of around 50 km, maximum azimuthal velocities near 50 cm s− 1 and a relative vorticity of up to −0.45f. The eddy generation occurred after the relaxation of a cyclonic wind-driven current regime over the shelf-slope; then, the eddy remained stationary for several weeks until it started to drift northwards along the shelf break. The surface signature of this eddy was observed by means of high-frequency radar data for 20 consecutive days, providing a unique opportunity to characterise and quantify, from a Lagrangian perspective, the associated transport and its effect on the Chl-a surface distribution. We observed the presence of mesoscale structures with similar characteristics in the area during different winters within the period 2011–2014. Our results suggest that the eddy-induced recurrent cross-shelf export is an effective mechanism for the expansion of coastal productive waters into the adjacent oligotrophic ocean basin. |
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Related staffAlejandro Orfila FörsterIsmael Hernandez CarrascoRelated departmentsOceanography and Global ChangeRelated research groupsMarine Technologies, Operational and Coastal Oceanography
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