Spatial structure of low salinity submesoscale features and their interactions with a coastal current
Jhugroo K, O’Callaghan J, Stevens CL, Macdonald HS, Elliott F and Hadfield MG (2020)
Frontiers of Marine Science
Highlights
Ocean glider observations have identified that low-salinity submesoscale features (river 'whirls and swirls') can travel further into the ocean than previously thought - in some cases up to 100km. This is a first for a New Zealand shelf sea (the Greater Cook Strait)
Without new tools or technology, like glider observations, we would not have been able to know this
Almost three-quarters of the low salinity features detected by the gliders did not have surface temperature signature
Therefore, traditional methods of using satellites in space to track the whirls and swirls isn't always possible because there isn't a temperature signature
These whirls and swirls stay close to the surface of the water, increasing stable stratification in the upper water column.
Keywords
land-sea interaction, primary production, glider observations, low-salinity submesoscale features
