Mobile version

The cool Australian eddy has become giant

Lively Data: April 21, 2008

Thanks to the watchful eye of satellites including altimeters, a cold eddy is regularly noticed off Sydney (see Lively Data, March 28, 2007: Cool Australian eddies). The eddy has reappeared this year, but with such proportions that it approaches the size of Tasmania. The cold eddies reduce the sea level with troughs around which currents swirling, in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere (and the opposite occurs in the Northern hemisphere).

 

A longitude-time diagram of Sea Level Anomalies using the LAS, shows the evolution of this eddy since our last Lively Data on this subject, in March 2007. The birth of the eddy has been traced to last August, it temporarly become weaker to reappear further off coasts in October. Since this date, it is closer to the coasts while reducing the sea surface. It reached its maximum size at the end of 2007, when its center was reduced by more than 70 cm. The eddy appears to be on the wane now.

Further information:

EnglishFrançais
Rss feedsContactPartnersFAQLexiconLegal noticePersonal Data Protection PolicyMobile
You must enable cookies in your browser preferences to save the modifications
You are using an older version of Internet Explorer, please update to take full advantage of Aviso+ features

Customize the home page

View all widgets
Reduce display
Public profile
User profile

Select/Deselect widgets

Discover AVISO+

Customizable home, reading tools, products search guide, etc.. Discover step by step the features of the new site AVISO+.