Abstract

Gulf Stream frontal eddies, cyclonic features that form in the trough of meanders in the South Atlantic Bight, provide a natural mesocosm for investigating questions around submesoscale spatial and temporal variability. These frontal eddies drive important nutrient fluxes into the euphotic zone which generate considerable productivity on the outer shelf of the Southeast US coastline. Modeling suggests these nutrient fluxes are partly due to submesoscale physics, but current observational approaches miss much of these dynamics and the biological response to them. As a result, current global biogeochemical models are not parameterized to account for potential submesoscale contributions to productivity and carbon export. We present work observing these frontal eddies from new satellite platforms such as ECOSTRESS which provides an order of magnitude higher resolution SST compared to MODIS, GOES-16 which provides an order of magnitude higher temporal cadence SST compared to MODIS, and VIIRS for ocean color. Characterizing spatial patterns and temporal variation of SST and chlorophyll-a within frontal eddies at finer spatiotemporal resolution provides a better understanding of whether their submesoscale variability is captured by current remote sensing products, and insight into their overall role in ocean productivity and biodiversity.