2020/11/01 by F. Andrade-Canto, F. Andrade‐Canto, D. Karrasch +3 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
paper · doi:10.1063/5.0030094
openalex publication_date 2020/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
We carry out assessments of the life cycle of Loop Current vortices, so-called rings, in the Gulf of Mexico by applying three objective (i.e., observer-independent) coherent Lagrangian vortex detection methods on velocities derived from satellite altimetry measurements of the sea-surface height (SSH). The methods reveal material vortices with boundaries that withstand stretching or diffusion or whose fluid elements rotate evenly. This involved a technology advance that enables framing vortex genesis and apocalypse robustly and with precision in a truly parameter-free fashion. We find that the stretching- and diffusion-withstanding assessments produce consistent results, which show large discrepancies with Eulerian assessments that identify vortices with regions instantaneously filled with streamlines of the SSH field. The even-rotation assessment, which is vorticity-based, is found to be quite unstable, suggesting life expectancies much shorter than those produced by all other assessments.