observation is satellite information with high spatial resolution. Such eddies as well
as mesoscale ones provide to a great extent the horizontal mixing in the open sea and
shelf/open sea water exchange, the latter is particularly important for inland seas
with a high level of contamination by river discharges, city and tourist resort wastes,
etc. Besides, submesoscale eddies can play an important role in the vertical exchange
between the surface and deeper layers of the sea/ocean [35]. Measurements with
ADCP in a cyclonic submesoscale eddy area in the Black Sea showed that active
eddy motions were observed only in the upper 15–20-m layer [38]. Thus, we can put
forward an assumption that stratification may be important for their formation.
The mechanisms of generation of submesoscale eddies in the coastal zones of
seas are: wind momentum; shear instability of coastal currents; river runoff;
interaction of vortices and dissipation; the interaction of flows with small-scale
features of the shoreline (headlands, spits) or irregularities of the bottom topography. In the deep sea, the possible generation mechanisms are: frontal instability,
including instability at the boundaries of mesoscale structures (eddies, filaments of
upwelling). Less obvious mechanisms of formation of submesoscale eddies or fields
of such eddies are in the regions where fronts or velocity shear are absent (examples
of radar images of such eddy fields in the Black, Caspian, and Baltic seas are
presented in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). It was suggested in literature that their
formation may be a result of the atmospheric effects [5, 20] or convection [5, 9]. We
hope that further observations of remote sensing data jointly with the hydrometeorological data will help to clarify this problem.
Acknowledgements Analysis of high resolution optical satellite imagery made by A. G. Kostianoy
and A. I. Ginzburg was supported by the Russian Science Foundation Grant 14-50-00095. O. Yu.
Lavrova and M. I. Mityagina analyzed SAR imagery and studied submesoscale eddies in the
framework and with a support of the Russian Science Foundation Grant 14-17-00555.
References
1. Arkhipkin, V. S., Bondarenko, A. L., Vedev, D. L., & Kosarev, A. N. (1992). Peculiarities of
water circulation at eastern coast of the Middle Caspian Sea. Vodnye Resursy, 6, 36–43. (in
Russian).
2. Eldevik, T., & Dysthe, K. B. (2002). Spiral eddies. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 32(3),
851–869.
3. Elkin, D. N., & Zatsepin, A. G. (2013). Laboratory investigation of a mechanism of periodic
eddy formation behined capes in a Coastal Sea. Oceanology, 53(1), 29–41. (in Russian).
4. Fedorov, K. N., & Ginsburg, A. I. (1986). “Mushroom-like” currents (vortex dipoles) in the
ocean and in a laboratory tank. Annales Geophysicae, 4(B, 5), 507–516.
5. Ginzburg, A. I. (1992). Nonstationary eddy motions in the ocean. Oceanology, 32(6),
689–694.
6. Ginzburg, A. I. (1994). Horizontal exchange processes in the near-surface layer of the Black
Sea. Earth Observation and Remote Sensing, 12, 190–202.
7. Ginzburg, A. I., Kostianoy, A. G., Soloviev, D. M., & Stanichny, S. V. (2000). Remotely
sensed coastal/deep-basin water exchange processes in the Black Sea surface layer. In
D. Halpern (Ed.) Satellites, oceanography and society (pp. 273–287). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Satellite Remote Sensing of Submesoscale Eddies …
411
as mesoscale ones provide to a great extent the horizontal mixing in the open sea and
shelf/open sea water exchange, the latter is particularly important for inland seas
with a high level of contamination by river discharges, city and tourist resort wastes,
etc. Besides, submesoscale eddies can play an important role in the vertical exchange
between the surface and deeper layers of the sea/ocean [35]. Measurements with
ADCP in a cyclonic submesoscale eddy area in the Black Sea showed that active
eddy motions were observed only in the upper 15–20-m layer [38]. Thus, we can put
forward an assumption that stratification may be important for their formation.
The mechanisms of generation of submesoscale eddies in the coastal zones of
seas are: wind momentum; shear instability of coastal currents; river runoff;
interaction of vortices and dissipation; the interaction of flows with small-scale
features of the shoreline (headlands, spits) or irregularities of the bottom topography. In the deep sea, the possible generation mechanisms are: frontal instability,
including instability at the boundaries of mesoscale structures (eddies, filaments of
upwelling). Less obvious mechanisms of formation of submesoscale eddies or fields
of such eddies are in the regions where fronts or velocity shear are absent (examples
of radar images of such eddy fields in the Black, Caspian, and Baltic seas are
presented in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). It was suggested in literature that their
formation may be a result of the atmospheric effects [5, 20] or convection [5, 9]. We
hope that further observations of remote sensing data jointly with the hydrometeorological data will help to clarify this problem.
Acknowledgements Analysis of high resolution optical satellite imagery made by A. G. Kostianoy
and A. I. Ginzburg was supported by the Russian Science Foundation Grant 14-50-00095. O. Yu.
Lavrova and M. I. Mityagina analyzed SAR imagery and studied submesoscale eddies in the
framework and with a support of the Russian Science Foundation Grant 14-17-00555.
References
1. Arkhipkin, V. S., Bondarenko, A. L., Vedev, D. L., & Kosarev, A. N. (1992). Peculiarities of
water circulation at eastern coast of the Middle Caspian Sea. Vodnye Resursy, 6, 36–43. (in
Russian).
2. Eldevik, T., & Dysthe, K. B. (2002). Spiral eddies. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 32(3),
851–869.
3. Elkin, D. N., & Zatsepin, A. G. (2013). Laboratory investigation of a mechanism of periodic
eddy formation behined capes in a Coastal Sea. Oceanology, 53(1), 29–41. (in Russian).
4. Fedorov, K. N., & Ginsburg, A. I. (1986). “Mushroom-like” currents (vortex dipoles) in the
ocean and in a laboratory tank. Annales Geophysicae, 4(B, 5), 507–516.
5. Ginzburg, A. I. (1992). Nonstationary eddy motions in the ocean. Oceanology, 32(6),
689–694.
6. Ginzburg, A. I. (1994). Horizontal exchange processes in the near-surface layer of the Black
Sea. Earth Observation and Remote Sensing, 12, 190–202.
7. Ginzburg, A. I., Kostianoy, A. G., Soloviev, D. M., & Stanichny, S. V. (2000). Remotely
sensed coastal/deep-basin water exchange processes in the Black Sea surface layer. In
D. Halpern (Ed.) Satellites, oceanography and society (pp. 273–287). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Satellite Remote Sensing of Submesoscale Eddies …
411