Polygon experiment

[1] The existence of mesoscale eddies was predicted by Henry Stommel in the 1960s,[3] but there was no way to observe them with traditional sampling methods.

[1] POLYGON was led by Leonid Brekhovskikh, from the Andreev Acoustics Institute, involving six research vessels and an extensive network of current meters.

The flow meters were disposed in a cross, spanning a region of 113 by 113 nautical miles dubbed the "polygon".

It looks as though some largescale eddy or wave disturbances were travelling across the POLYGON site from east to west.

[1] Walter Munk commented that the POLYGON experiment "ignited the mesoscale revolution [and that] MODE defined the new order" and that "oceanography has never been the same" since.

POLYGON experiment current meters. Those managed by Akademik Kurchatov are in blue, managed by Dmitri Mendeleev are in red and managed by Andrei Vil'kitskii are in green. Buoy no. 1 at the centre of the axes is located at coordinates 16.5° N, 33.5° W. Both axes are in nautical miles .