SWOT Enhances Small-Scale Eddy Detection in the Mediterranean Sea

Ocean currents are crucial in regulating Earth's climate, with a significant impact in the distribution of ocean properties. During the Calibration/Validation phase of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission, we performed a high-resolution, multi-platform experiment to evaluate SWOT's ability to resolve small-scale features, focusing on a ∼25 km-radius anticyclonic eddy in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) recorded maximum velocities of 30 cm/s at 155 m depth and underwater glider data identified biconvex isopycnals, classifying the eddy as intrathermocline. SWOT successfully captured the sea level signal and surface geostrophic currents of the eddy, showing notable error reduction over conventional altimetry: 24% in sea level representation compared to glider observations, and 35% and 31% in horizontal velocity magnitude compared to Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler and drifter measurements, respectively. This study highlights SWOT's potential in resolving small-scale ocean dynamics.