Tedesco P. auteur aut IRD Gula J. auteur aut IRD Menesguen C. auteur aut IRD Penven Pierrick auteur aut IRD Krug M. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access This study addresses the dynamics of the Agulhas inshore front in the submesoscale range upstream of 26 degrees E. Submesoscale frontal eddies are observed in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth (26 degrees E) from satellite images and in observations collected from underwater gliders. Using a submesoscale-resolving numerical model (dx similar to 0.75 km), we are able to simulate similar submesoscale eddies. Barotropic instability is confirmed as the generation mechanism by a one-dimensional linear stability analysis and an eddy kinetic energy budget. Kinetic energy is transferred from the mean flow to the eddies through the mean horizontal shear, which is a signature of barotropic instability. When the Agulhas Current is in a nonmeandering state, submesoscale eddy generation is a recurrent process which locally drives the front's variability. Along the front, the spatial variability of barotropic instability is shaped by the background strain. A large strain aligned with the frontal axis intensifies the frontal shear upstream of 28 degrees E while a weakening of the strain allows for barotropic instability to be triggered downstream. Although an intermittent process, the barotropic instability shows a dominant period of variability comparable with the variability of the Agulhas Current and Undercurrent. specialized Submesoscale Numerical Modelling Barotropic Instability Agulhas Current Frontal Eddies OCEAN INDIEN 032 020 124 11 7606-7625 2019 2169-9275 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077291 10.1029/2019jc015229 2169-9275 [F B010077291] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077291 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/depot/2020-10-22/010077291.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2019-12-12 2025-02-24 fdi:010077291 fre