Cold-core eddy detected in South China Sea

Abstract

A large, cyclonic, cold‐core eddy was present in the South China Sea in January 1994. The eddy was first indicated in altimetric data from TOPEX/Poseidon; measurements of sea‐surface height revealed levels characteristic of eddy activity. The surface topography of the 500‐km‐wide eddy was then charted by surface‐drifting buoy data and sea surface temperature acquired by satellite. The use of TOPEX/Poseidon data to study surface current variability is common, but the confirmation of transient sea level anomalies and their associated geostrophic velocities by several types of measurements is rare.