Oceanic mixing studies from satellite data

I will summarize recent work on the applications of Lagrangian
techniques to characterize transport and mixing in the marine surface.
Velocity field data are obtained from realistic simulations and from
satellite altimetry of the surface layers of the sea surface. I will
compare the ability of Lagrangian methods and standard Eulerian
diagnostics in locating instantaneaous coherent structures and in the
analysis of climatological transport and mixing properties. Some
applications to biological processes in the marine environment (like
coastal upwelling areas) will be also discussed.