Barceló-Llull Bàrbara, Rosselló Pere, Combes Vincent, Sánchez-Román Antonio, Pujol M Isabelle, Pascual Ananda
Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain.
Collecte Localisation Satellites, Ramonville-Saint-Agne, France.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21754. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-06149-9.
Ocean mesoscale variability, including meanders and eddies, is a crucial component of the global ocean circulation. The Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) of these features accounts for about 90% of the ocean's total kinetic energy. This study investigates if the global ocean mesoscale variability is becoming more energetic by analyzing 30 years of satellite altimetric observations. We use two observational products: one constructed from a consistent pair of altimeters and another including all available missions. Our results reveal a significant global EKE strengthening of 1-3% per decade. The intensification is concentrated in energetic regions, particularly in the Kuroshio Extension and the Gulf Stream, which show EKE increases of ~ 50% and ~ 20%, respectively, over the last decade. These observations raise new questions about the impact of the Gulf Stream strengthening on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and challenge existing climate models, emphasizing the need for improved representation of small-scale ocean processes.
海洋中尺度变率，包括弯曲和涡旋，是全球海洋环流的一个关键组成部分。这些特征的涡动动能（EKE）约占海洋总动能的90%。本研究通过分析30年的卫星测高观测数据，调查全球海洋中尺度变率是否正变得更具能量。我们使用了两种观测产品：一种由一对一致的高度计构建而成，另一种包含所有可用任务的数据。我们的结果显示，全球EKE显著增强，每十年增强1% - 3%。这种增强集中在高能区，特别是在黑潮延伸区和墨西哥湾流，在过去十年中，它们的EKE分别增加了约50%和约20%。这些观测结果引发了关于墨西哥湾流增强对大西洋经向翻转环流（AMOC）影响的新问题，并对现有的气候模型提出了挑战，强调了改进对小尺度海洋过程描述的必要性。
