Physical dynamics and biological implications of Cyclone Noah in the lee of Hawai’i during E-Flux I

Quasi-synoptic observations of the horizontal and vertical structure of a cold-core cyclonic mesoscale eddy feature (Cyclone Noah) were conducted in the lee of Hawai’i from November 4–22, 2004 as part of the E-Flux interdisciplinary collaborative research program. Cyclone Noah appears to have spun up to the southwest of the ‘Alenuihaha Channel (between Maui and Hawai’i) as a result of strong and persistent northeasterly trade winds through the channel. Shipboard hydrographic surveys 2.5 months later suggest that Noah weakened and was in a hypothesized spin-down phase of its life cycle. Although the initial surface expression of Noah was limited in scale to ∼40 km in diameter and, as evidenced by surface temperatures, 2–3 °C cooler than the surrounding waters, depth profiles revealed a fully developed semi-elliptical shallow feature (∼200 m), ∼144 km long and ∼90 km wide (based on sigma-t=23 kg m−3) with tangential speeds of 40–80 cm s−1, and substantial isopycnal doming. Potential vorticity distribution of Noah suggests that radial horizontal flow of the core water was inhibited from the surface to depths of ∼75 m, with high vorticity confined above the sigma-t=23.5 kg m−3 isopycnal surface. Upward displacements of isopycnal surfaces in the eddy's center (∼50 m) were congruent with enhanced pigment concentrations (0.50 mg m−3). Comparisons of the results obtained for E-Flux I (Noah) and E-Flux III (Opal) suggest that translation characteristics of cyclonic Hawaiian lee eddies may be important in establishing the biogeochemical and biological responses of the oligotrophic ocean to cyclonic eddies.