Institutional Repository of Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Wave Studies, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
| Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea: Mean properties, spatiotemporal variability, and impact on thermohaline structure | |
| Chen, Gengxin1,2; Hou, Yijun1,2; Chu, Xiaoqing1,2 | |
| 2011-06-30 | |
| 发表期刊 | JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
 |
| ISSN | 0148-0227 |
| 卷号 | 116页码:C06018 |
| 文章类型 | Article |
| 摘要 | We investigated mean properties and the spatiotemporal variability of eddies in the South China Sea (SCS) by analyzing more than 7000 eddies corresponding to 827 eddy tracks, identified using the winding angle method and 17 years of satellite altimetry data. Eddies are mainly generated in a northeast-southwest direction and southwest of Luzon Strait. There is no significant difference between the numbers of two types of eddies (anticyclonic and cyclonic) in most regions. The mean radius and lifetime of eddies are 132 km and 8.8 weeks, respectively, both depending on where the eddies are formed. Anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies tend to deform during their lifetimes in different ways. Furthermore, eddy propagation and evolution characteristics are examined. In the northern SCS, eddies mainly propagate southwestward along the continental slope with velocities of 5.0-9.0 cm s(-1), while in the central SCS, eddies tend to move with slight divergence but still in a quasi-westward direction with velocities of 2.0-6.4 cm s(-1). Eddy propagation in the western basin to the east of Vietnam is quite random, with no uniform propagate direction. Investigation of 38 long-lived eddies shows that eddies have a swift growing phase during the first 12 weeks and then a slow decaying phase that affects the eddy radii and eddy energy densities. Nevertheless, vorticity has less variability. In addition, the effect of eddies on the thermocline and halocline is analyzed using 763 Argo temperature profile data. Cyclonic eddies drive the thermocline shallower and thinner and significantly strengthen the thermocline intensity, whereas anticyclonic eddies cause the thermocline to deepen and thicken and weaken the thermocline intensity to a certain degree. The halocline impacted by cyclonic eddies is also shallower and thinner than that impacted by anticyclonic eddies. Finally, eddy temporal variations are examined at seasonal and interannual scales. Eddy activity is sensitive to the wind stress curl and in the northern SCS it is also related with the strength of the background flows.; We investigated mean properties and the spatiotemporal variability of eddies in the South China Sea (SCS) by analyzing more than 7000 eddies corresponding to 827 eddy tracks, identified using the winding angle method and 17 years of satellite altimetry data. Eddies are mainly generated in a northeast-southwest direction and southwest of Luzon Strait. There is no significant difference between the numbers of two types of eddies (anticyclonic and cyclonic) in most regions. The mean radius and lifetime of eddies are 132 km and 8.8 weeks, respectively, both depending on where the eddies are formed. Anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies tend to deform during their lifetimes in different ways. Furthermore, eddy propagation and evolution characteristics are examined. In the northern SCS, eddies mainly propagate southwestward along the continental slope with velocities of 5.0-9.0 cm s(-1), while in the central SCS, eddies tend to move with slight divergence but still in a quasi-westward direction with velocities of 2.0-6.4 cm s(-1). Eddy propagation in the western basin to the east of Vietnam is quite random, with no uniform propagate direction. Investigation of 38 long-lived eddies shows that eddies have a swift growing phase during the first 12 weeks and then a slow decaying phase that affects the eddy radii and eddy energy densities. Nevertheless, vorticity has less variability. In addition, the effect of eddies on the thermocline and halocline is analyzed using 763 Argo temperature profile data. Cyclonic eddies drive the thermocline shallower and thinner and significantly strengthen the thermocline intensity, whereas anticyclonic eddies cause the thermocline to deepen and thicken and weaken the thermocline intensity to a certain degree. The halocline impacted by cyclonic eddies is also shallower and thinner than that impacted by anticyclonic eddies. Finally, eddy temporal variations are examined at seasonal and interannual scales. Eddy activity is sensitive to the wind stress curl and in the northern SCS it is also related with the strength of the background flows. |
| 学科领域 | Oceanography |
| DOI | 10.1029/2010JC006716 |
| URL | 查看原文 |
| 收录类别 | SCI |
| 语种 | 英语 |
| WOS记录号 | WOS:000292384700002 |
| 引用统计 | |
| 文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
| 条目标识符 | http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/11587 |
| 专题 | 海洋环流与波动重点实验室 |
| 作者单位 | 1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Ocean Circulation & Waves, Qingdao 266071, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, S China Sea Inst Oceanol, State Key Lab Oceanog Trop, Guangzhou 510301, Peoples R China |
| 第一作者单位 | 中国科学院海洋研究所 |
| 推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Chen, Gengxin,Hou, Yijun,Chu, Xiaoqing. Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea: Mean properties, spatiotemporal variability, and impact on thermohaline structure[J]. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS,2011,116:C06018. |
| APA | Chen, Gengxin,Hou, Yijun,&Chu, Xiaoqing.(2011).Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea: Mean properties, spatiotemporal variability, and impact on thermohaline structure.JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS,116,C06018. |
| MLA | Chen, Gengxin,et al."Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea: Mean properties, spatiotemporal variability, and impact on thermohaline structure".JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS 116(2011):C06018. |
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