Gulf Stream frontal eddies, cyclonic features that form in the trough of
meanders in the South Atlantic Bight, provide a natural mesocosm for
investigating questions around submesoscale spatial and temporal
variability. These frontal eddies drive important nutrient fluxes into
the euphotic zone which generate considerable productivity on the outer
shelf of the Southeast US coastline. Modeling suggests these nutrient
fluxes are partly due to submesoscale physics, but current observational
approaches miss much of these dynamics and the biological response to
them. As a result, current global biogeochemical models are not
parameterized to account for potential submesoscale contributions to
productivity and carbon export. We present work observing these frontal
eddies from new satellite platforms such as ECOSTRESS which provides an
order of magnitude higher resolution SST compared to MODIS, GOES-16
which provides an order of magnitude higher temporal cadence SST
compared to MODIS, and VIIRS for ocean color. Characterizing spatial
patterns and temporal variation of SST and chlorophyll-a within frontal
eddies at finer spatiotemporal resolution provides a better
understanding of whether their submesoscale variability is captured by
current remote sensing products, and insight into their overall role in
ocean productivity and biodiversity.