Adaptive Four-Dimensional Glider Survey Reveals the Eddy Field Evolution in the Balearic Sea: Formation, Intensification, and Decay
Mesoscale features and their corresponding submesoscale structures can vertically transport heat, freshwater, and biogeochemical tracers (i.e., phytoplankton, oxygen, and carbon) from the surface to the stratified pycnocline or interior. This study examines the evolution of small-scale eddies formed by baroclinic instabilities of the Northern and Balearic Currents in the Western Mediterranean Sea. During the CALYPSO 2022 experiment, eight gliders were programmed to dive up to 700m from 25 March to 21 June 2022. The glider fleet measured temperature, salinity, velocity, chlorophyll fluorescence, oxygen, and acoustic backscatter. The data was mapped objectively in space and time on 10m vertical levels. Vertical and ageostrophic horizontal velocities were estimated from the omega equation. The analysis shows an uplift of the isopycnal surface 28.9 around 100m in 10km as a cyclonic eddy (CE) formed, which can nourish the euphotic layer through phytoplankton enhancement in the center. The CE has an asymmetric shape with ~25km width and ~35km length. Downward vertical velocities (w) ~20 m day-1 developed around the eddy. As it developed, the CE axis shifted westward. After the first CE dissipated, the 28.9 kg/m3 isopycnal shoaled again in the east as a second CE formed, with the largest observed relative vorticity (~0.5f). The eddy axis shifted westward during growth. The largest downward vertical velocities during eddy intensification were 30 m day-1, with the size ranging ~25km. Also, the positive values of the barotropic term show a transfer of mean kinetic energy to eddy kinetic energy on the Western side of the CE. Then, the new cyclonic feature spread over a few days before splitting into two 15km CEs on 2 May. The two smaller CEs proceeded north and west before leaving our study area. An anticyclonic eddy (AE) of ~20km formed during their separation. The observations show horizontal density gradients of 0.5kg/m3 over ~10km with 30cm/s maximum velocities. Upwelling and downwelling were also detected by biochemical tracers near the frontal interface. The glider sampling of the eddy field was adapted in real time based on multi-resolution forecasting and remote sensing. Data were assimilated in real-time so as to evaluate the vertical velocities developed by the eddy field and their ecological impact.