Additionally, these currents and eddies can put enourmous pressure on the side of a ship, causing it to move during cable burial or payout. Even using mechanical thrusters to maintain track may not be enough for a ship to avoid being affected by these strong currents. Water in eddies is warmer than the surrounding water, and can stand up to 80 cm higher than it otherwise would. This time is translated into distance. Computers subtract the distance measurement from the average height at that spot over the last several years.
Scientists can then detect hills and valleys on the ocean's surface.
These measurements are transmitted from the satellite and relayed to technical staff and faculty researchers at CU within hours. The CU researchers analyze the data, producing high-resolution maps highlighting areas of local hills and valleys on the ocean's surface, identifying current locations of ocean eddies, and predicting where these ocean eddies will likely drift in the coming days. An important aspect of the ocean monitoring and forecast system is the assimilation of near real-time altimeter data into a numerical ocean model of the Gulf of Mexico. For more than a year, near real-time nowcasts and forecasts have been made by the University of Colorado, for the potential use by the offshore oil and gas industries. Suzanna Barth is a Graduate Research Assistant at CCAR and is actively involved in satellite altimetry research.