Satellite Remote Sensing of Submesoscale
Eddies in the Russian Seas
Andrey G. Kostianoy, Anna I. Ginzburg, Olga Yu. Lavrova
and Marina I. Mityagina
Introduction
Numerous field measurements (especially large in number since the 1970s when the
Soviet experiment POLYGON-70, the American experiment MODE, and the
Soviet-American experiment POLYMODE were performed) and satellite imagery
showed that the oceans are full of eddies of different formation mechanisms and
different spatial and temporal characteristics. Among the inhabitants of the eddy
zoo [32]: frontal eddies of large-scale currents, open sea eddies, topographic eddies,
eddies generated under atmospheric influence, intrathermocline lenses, dipoles,
tripoles, etc. (see, for example, [4, 12, 17, 26, 27]). Their diameters vary in the wide
range from a few kilometers to over 200 km and lifetimes from a few days to tens
of months and even years (in case of intrathermocline lenses). Eddies with a horizontal scale D of order of the Rossby internal radius of deformation R d relate to
mesoscale (synoptic in Russian literature) ones. These geostrophic or
quasi-geostrophic eddies with anticyclonic or cyclonic rotation (clockwise or
counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, respectively) are the most studied to
date both with in-situ measurements and with satellite observations. They are a
powerful mechanism of horizontal (due to the involvement of the surrounding
A. G. Kostianoy ( ✉ ) ⋅ A. I. Ginzburg
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: kostianoy@gmail.com
A. G. Kostianoy
S.Yu. Witte Moscow University, Moscow, Russia
A. G. Kostianoy
Interfacultary Center for Marine Research (MARE) and Modelling
for Aquatic Systems (MAST), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
O. Yu. Lavrova ⋅ M. I. Mityagina
Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_24
397
Eddies in the Russian Seas
Andrey G. Kostianoy, Anna I. Ginzburg, Olga Yu. Lavrova
and Marina I. Mityagina
Introduction
Numerous field measurements (especially large in number since the 1970s when the
Soviet experiment POLYGON-70, the American experiment MODE, and the
Soviet-American experiment POLYMODE were performed) and satellite imagery
showed that the oceans are full of eddies of different formation mechanisms and
different spatial and temporal characteristics. Among the inhabitants of the eddy
zoo [32]: frontal eddies of large-scale currents, open sea eddies, topographic eddies,
eddies generated under atmospheric influence, intrathermocline lenses, dipoles,
tripoles, etc. (see, for example, [4, 12, 17, 26, 27]). Their diameters vary in the wide
range from a few kilometers to over 200 km and lifetimes from a few days to tens
of months and even years (in case of intrathermocline lenses). Eddies with a horizontal scale D of order of the Rossby internal radius of deformation R d relate to
mesoscale (synoptic in Russian literature) ones. These geostrophic or
quasi-geostrophic eddies with anticyclonic or cyclonic rotation (clockwise or
counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, respectively) are the most studied to
date both with in-situ measurements and with satellite observations. They are a
powerful mechanism of horizontal (due to the involvement of the surrounding
A. G. Kostianoy ( ✉ ) ⋅ A. I. Ginzburg
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: kostianoy@gmail.com
A. G. Kostianoy
S.Yu. Witte Moscow University, Moscow, Russia
A. G. Kostianoy
Interfacultary Center for Marine Research (MARE) and Modelling
for Aquatic Systems (MAST), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
O. Yu. Lavrova ⋅ M. I. Mityagina
Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_24
397