Sea-level variability and surface eddy statistics in the Mediterranean Sea from TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1 data

TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1 altimeter data have successfully been used to demonstrate the capability of these altimeters to study the mesoscale field in the MEditerranean Sea and to investigate the seasonal variability of the Sea Level and eddy statistics in this basin. The analysis reveals a strong, but sub-basin dependent, seasonal signal. A comparison between mesoscale features detected by the two altimeters and contemporaneous features observed using Sea Surface Temperature maps definitively proves the direct relation between sea level anomalies and the MEditerranean eddy field. The comparison between the two altimeter performance is very good and underline importance to combine the information of TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1 to study the Mediterranean mesoscale eddy field.