Detection of Dynamic Fronts Using Satellite Altimetry ...

• Main Authors: Arbilla, Lisandro, Ruiz Etcheverry, Laura, López Abbate, Celeste
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: CNES 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic; Drake Passage; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24400/527896/a03-2023.3854; https://ostst.aviso.altimetry.fr/programs/abstracts-details.html?tx_ausyclsseminar_pi2[objAbstracte]=3854&cHash=X

Marine fronts are narrow boundaries between two water masses with different physical properties. Fronts are dynamic, meaning they vary in space, time, and intensity. Therefore, their detection based on a fixed value of a physical variable such as Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT) may not be the most optimal method. In order to detect the spatial and temporal variations of the most important fronts in the Drake Passage (DP), namely the Subantarctic Front (SAF), the Polar Front (PF), and the Southern Front of the Circumpolar Antarctic Current (SCACC), we proposed a methodology that utilizes 27 years of daily satellite altimetry maps. This methodology involves calculating the probability density function (PDF) of daily ADT in a polygon with a fixed area (5º width x 12.5º length) that moves eastward every 3º from 73ºW to 53ºW. Water masses are identified as relative maximas in the PDF associated with a value of ADT, while the frontal zone is represented by a minimum located between these maximas. In each box, ...