Articles | Volume 15, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-941-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-15-941-2019
Research article
 | 
17 Jul 2019
Research article |  | 17 Jul 2019

Single super-vortex as a proxy for ocean surface flow fields

Imre M. Jánosi, Miklós Vincze, Gábor Tóth, and Jason A. C. Gallas

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AR by Imre M. Janosi on behalf of the Authors (13 Jun 2019)  Author's response    Manuscript
ED: Publish as is (27 Jun 2019) by Eric J.M. Delhez
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Short summary
Mesoscale eddies are ubiquitous swirling flow patterns in the open ocean with diameters of around 100 km. They transport a huge amount of heat and material and are therefore key elements of the “weather” of the ocean. Using satellite-based ocean surface elevation, we found that the combined global effect of all mesoscale eddies can be treated as a single strong “super-vortex”. This finding can be helpful to estimate the energy budget of ocean regions where only sparse field data are available.