Cold filament dynamics in Central Tyrrhenian Sea.

We analyse the dynamic of a cold filament in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea. After a week of a strong wind blowing offshore (namely the Mistral wind funnelled through the Mouths of Bonifacio, between Sardinian and Corsica) satellite thermal mages revealed the presence of an elongated cold anomaly, blocked over the Sardinian shelf near Olbia. In subsequent days the filament meandered as a results of a general basin circulation. Using thermal satellite data and a few CTD casts, we introduce some estimates concerning the filament dynamics. Using general potential vorticity arguments we arrive at a reconstruction of the elementary mechanisms ruling filament generation and evolution.