Low‐frequency variability in the region of the Agulhas Retroflection

Using sea level data collected by TOPEX/POSEIDON altimeter, we studied the low‐frequency variability in the region of the Agulhas Retroflection and Return Current. We found that characteristics of the low‐frequency variability are fundamentally different from those associated with the high‐frequency mesoscale variability. As in the Kuroshio Extension region, strong low‐frequency variability is found to cluster around strong current. Although bottom topography is found to have strong influence on the low‐frequency variability, correspondence between the spatial structure of low‐frequency variability and major bottom topographic features is significantly different from that in the Kuroshio Extension region.