[A-OS22] Physical, chemical and biological processes and variability in the Indian Ocean

[AOS22-03] Characterisation of mesoscale eddies along the eastern boundary current off the southern coast of Java

*Mochamad Furqon Azis Ismail¹, Adi Purwandana¹, Asep Sandra Budiman¹, Dewi Surinati¹, Ahmad Bayhaqi¹ (1.Research Centre for Oceanography - Indonesian Institute of Sciences)

Keywords:Eastern Boundary Current, Mesoscale eddies, cross-shelf processes, Indian Ocean

Mesoscale eddies are omnipresent in the ocean and have been observed in boundary current regions. These eddies contribute significantly to the export of high nutrients and elevated chlorophyll-a concentration beyond the coastal upwelling areas, as well as advecting plankton, fish larvae, and other ocean properties. Here, we documented for the first time the mean properties and spatiotemporal variability of mesoscale eddies using a suite of satellite observations for the Eastern Boundary Current (EBC) of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Java, one of the least studied regions of the EBC system. The mesoscale eddies are identified and tracked from generation to decay using an automated eddy detection and tracking algorithm that combines both geometric and dynamical properties of eddies. We find a total of 613 mesoscale eddies with lifetime > 7days for the period 2011 to 2019. This is an average of about 68 individual eddies per year. A total of 331 (54 %) cyclonic eddies and 282 (46 %) anticyclonic eddies are tracked in this region. These mesoscale eddies potentially play significant cross-shelf processes off the southern coast of Java.