SWOT Enhances Small‐Scale Eddy Detection in the Mediterranean Sea
Abstract Ocean currents are crucial in regulating Earth's climate, with a significant impact in the distribution of ocean properties. During the Calibration/Validation phase of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, we performed a high‐resolution, multi‐platform experiment to evaluate SWOT's ability to resolve small‐scale features, focusing on a ∼25 km‐radius anticyclonic eddy in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) recorded maximum velocities of 30 cm/s at 155 m depth and underwater glider data identified biconvex isopycnals, classifying the eddy as intrathermocline. SWOT successfully captured the sea level signal and surface geostrophic currents of the eddy, showing notable error reduction over conventional altimetry: 24% in sea level representation compared to glider observations, and 35% and 31% in horizontal velocity magnitude compared to Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler and drifter measurements, respectively. This study highlights SWOT's potential in resolving small‐scale ocean dynamics.
Authors
- Baptiste Mourre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5056-0423)
- Bàrbara Barceló‐Llull (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4219-6676)
- Daniel R. Tarry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4366-251X)
- Francesco d’Ovidio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9664-7778)
- Nikolaos Zarokanellos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6235-6198)
- Lara Díaz‐Barroso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4130-4177)
- Ananda Pascual (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9476-9272)
- Laura Gómez‐Navarro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5878-4501)
- Elisabet Verger‐Miralles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4222-7242)
- Benjamín Casas
- Eugenio Cutolo
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (ES)
- Balearic Islands Coastal Observing and Forecasting System (ES)
- Laboratoire des Sciences et Techniques de l’Information de la Communication et de la Connaissance (FR)
- IMT Atlantique (FR)
- University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory (US)
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-08-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl116480
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.59
Funders
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- European Commission
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Universitat de les Illes Balears
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación