Oceanic Mesoscale Cyclones Cluster Surface Lagrangian Material

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Vic, Clément, Hascoët, Solenne, Gula, Jonathan, Maes, Christophe, Huck, Thierry
• Other Authors: Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale (LOPS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Océan Dynamique Observations Analyse (ODYSSEY), Université de Rennes (UR)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Inria Rennes – Bretagne Atlantique, Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (Inria)-IMT Atlantique (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT), ANR-19-CE01-0002,DEEPER,Impacts de la turbulence de sous-mésoéchelle profonde sur la circulation océanique(2019)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Ocean; mesoscale; clustering; Lagrangian; surface; convergence; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-03683304; https://insu.hal.science/insu-03683304/document; https://insu.hal.science/insu-03683304/file/91436.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL097488

International audience An asymmetry in the clustering of oceanic surface material has been observed at the submesoscales. Energetic and ephemeral submesoscale cyclonic fronts are associated with convergence zones, hence cluster surface material. Their anticyclonic counterparts do not feature such an effect. Yet, at the mesoscale, literature has been contradictory about such an asymmetry. Here, we combine surface drifter trajectories with an altimetry-derived mesoscale eddy database in the North Atlantic to show that mesoscale cyclones contain 24% more drifters than anticyclones. A numerical Lagrangian experiment using a mesoscale-resolving model quantitatively reproduces the observational results. It reveals that particles preferentially cluster in cyclonic regions, both in fronts and eddies. The model further suggests that ageostrophic cyclonic fronts concentrate particles a few days before the eddy formation and detection.