Drifter observations of surface currents in the Cyprus Gyre

• DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1266040
• Publication Date: 2023-10-27T21:58:21Z
• Authors: P.-M. Poulain; M. Menna; E. Mauri; A. Pirro; D. R. Hayes; H. Gildor
• Keywords: Drifter; Inertial wave

Wavelet ridge analysis was applied to the data of drifters caught in Cyprus Gyre eastern Mediterranean Sea study surface currents at low (rotating circulation) and high (near-inertial motion) frequencies. Drifter observations indicate that orbital speed is highest about 30 km from gyre center (reaching ~45 cm/s) Rossby number can be as 0.25. Drifters also show strong near-inertial with 35-40 cm/s exceed rotation background vorticity inside generally shifts effective inertial frequency values smaller than local frequency. As a result, are subinertial trapped mesoscale vortex. For example, motions June 2017 reached 40 its inner core red shift ~0.1 cpd, while on edge they were limited 10-20 cm/s, under similar wind forcing. This difference due trapping energy gyre. The observed largely driven by wind, especially when becomes diurnal resonance variability occurs. A damped slab model mixed layer only partially successful simulating observations.