Figure 8. A closer look at the eddies with inconsistent vorticity in model data.
Left panel: Misclassification rate (number of eddies with the wrong vorticity/number of eddies found) as a function of eddy lifetime. Shorter lived eddies tend to contribute to the misclassification rate more than longer lived eddies. Right panel: Summary of the difference in means between the eddies with proper vorticity sign (N=911,593) and the misclassified eddies (N=59,839). Standard errors are reported between parentheses. The mean lifetime of proper eddies was 31.99 days (0.04) and 6.88 days (0.04) for misclassified eddies. The mean amplitude was 2.66 cm (0.004) for the properly identified eddies and 1.75 cm (0.009) for misclassified eddies. The mean ratio of major to minor axis was 1.8 (0.00006) for the properly classified eddies and 2.05 (0.003) for misclassified eddies. The mean absolute vorticity within the contour of consistent eddies is 4.51 1/s×10−6(7.2×10−12), while 1.75 1/s×10−6 (1.03×10−10) for inconsistent eddies.