Data from four satellite altimeters are combined with the aim of improving the representation of the mesoscale variability in the Global Ocean. All missions [Jason‐1, ERS‐2/ENVISAT, Topex/Poseidon interleaved with Jason‐1 and Geosat Follow‐On] are cross‐calibrated previously to produce weekly gridded maps. In areas of intense variability, the rms differences between a classical configuration of two altimeters and the scenario merging four missions can reach 10 cm and 400 cm2/s2 in SLA and EKE, respectively, which represents an important percentage of the signal variance. A comparison with surface drifters shows that the four altimeter scenario improves the recovery of mesoscale structures that were not properly sampled with Jason‐1 + ERS‐2/ENVISAT. Finally, the consistency between altimetric and tide gauge data is improved by about 25% when coastal sea level is estimated with 4 satellites compared to the results obtained with 2 altimeters.

This paper presents a software tool that enables the identification and automated tracking of oceanic eddies observed with satellite altimetry in user-specified regions throughout the global ocean. As input, the code requires sequential maps of sea level anomalies such as those provided by Archiving, Validation, and Interpretation of Satellite Oceanographic (AVISO) data. Outputs take the form of (i) data files containing eddy properties, including position, radius, amplitude, and azimuthal (geostrophic) speed; and (ii) sequential image maps showing sea surface height maps with active eddy centers and tracks overlaid. The results given are from a demonstration in the Canary Basin region of the northeast Atlantic and are comparable with a published global eddy track database. Some discrepancies between the two datasets include eddy radius magnitude, and the distributions of eddy births and deaths. The discrepancies may be related to differences in the eddy identification methods, and also possibly to differences in the smoothing of the sea surface height maps. The code is written in Python and is made freely available under a GNU license (http://www.imedea.uib.es/users/ emason/py-eddy-tracker/).