Ocean 2D eddy energy fluxes from small mesoscale processes with SWOT

We investigate ocean dynamics at different scales in the Agulhas current system, a region of important interocean exchange of heat and energy. While ocean observations and some of the most advanced climate models capture the larger mesoscale dynamics (>100 km), the smaller-scale fronts and eddies are underrepresented. The recently launched NASA-CNES Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) wide-swath altimeter mission observes the smaller ocean geostrophic scales down to 15 km in wavelength globally. Here we will analyze different eddy diagnostics in the Agulhas Current region and quantify the contributions from the larger mesoscales observable today, and the smaller scales to be observed with SWOT. Surface geostrophic diagnostics of eddy kinetic energy, strain, and energy cascades are estimated from modelled sea surface height fields of the MITGCM / LLC4320 simulation subsampled at 1/10°. In this region, the smaller scales (