The Evolution and Propagation of Quasigeostrophic Ocean Eddies*

Abstract The long-term evolution of initially Gaussian eddies is studied in a reduced-gravity shallow-water model using both linear and nonlinear quasigeostrophic theory in an attempt to understand westward-propagating mesoscale eddies observed and tracked by satellite altimetry. By examining both isolated eddies and a large basin seeded with eddies with statistical characteristics consistent with those of observed eddies, it is shown that long-term eddy coherence and the zonal wavenumber–frequency power spectral density are best matched by the nonlinear model. Individual characteristics of the eddies including amplitude decay, horizontal length scale decay, and zonal and meridional propagation speed of a previously unrecognized quasi-stable state are examined. The results show that the meridional deflections from purely westward flow (poleward for cyclones and equatorward for anticyclones) are consistent with satellite observations. Examination of the fluid transport properties of the eddies shows that an inner core of the eddy, defined by the zero relative vorticity contour, contains only fluid from the eddy origin, whereas a surrounding outer ring contains a mixture of ambient fluid from throughout the eddy’s lifetime.