[1] This study describes characteristics of eddy (turbulent) heat and salt transports, in the basin-scale circulation as well as in the embedded mesoscale eddy found in the South China Sea (SCS). We first showed the features of turbulent heat and salt transports in mesoscale eddies using sea level anomaly (SLA) data, in situ hydrographic data, and 375 Argo profiles. We found that the transports were horizontally variable due to asymmetric distributions of temperature and salinity anomalies and that they were vertically correlated with the thermocline and halocline depths in the eddies. An existing barrier layer caused the halocline and eddy salt transport to be relatively shallow. We then analyzed the transports in the basin-scale circulation using an eddy diffusivity method and the sea surface height data, the Argo profiles, and the climatological hydrographic data. We found that relatively large poleward eddy heat transports occurred to the east of Vietnam (EOV) in summer and to the west of the Luzon Islands (WOL) in winter, while a large equatorward heat transport was located to the west of the Luzon Strait (WLS) in winter. The eddy salt transports were mostly similar to the heat transports but in the equatorward direction due to the fact that the mean salinity in the upper layer in the SCS tended to decrease toward the equator. Using a 2½-layer reduced-gravity model, we conducted a baroclinic instability study and showed that the baroclinic instability was critical to the seasonal variation of eddy kinetic energy (EKE) and thus the eddy transports. EOV, WLS, and WOL were regions with strong baroclinic instability, and, thus, with intensified eddy transports in the SCS. The combined effects of vertical velocity shear, latitude, and stratification determined the intensity of the baroclinic instability, which intensified the eddy transports EOV during summer and WLS and WOL during winter.

[1] A recent study shows that the blockage of the southwest monsoon by the mountain range on the east coast of Indochina triggers a chain of ocean-atmospheric response, including a wind jet and cold filament in the South China Sea (SCS). We extend this climatological analysis by using higher temporal resolution (weekly) to study intraseasonal variability in summer. Our analysis shows that the development of the wind jet and cold filament is not a smooth seasonal process but consists of several intraseasonal events each year at about 45-day intervals. In a typical intraseasonal event, the wind jet intensifies to above 12 m/s, followed in a week by the development of a cold filament advected by an offshore jet east of South Vietnam on the boundary of a double gyre circulation in the ocean. The double gyre circulation itself also strengthens in response to the intraseasonal wind event via Rossby wave adjustment, reaching the maximum strength in 2 to 3 weeks. The intraseasonal cold filaments appear to influence the surface wind, reducing the local wind speed because of the increased static stability in the near-surface atmosphere. To first order, the above sequence of events may be viewed as the SCS response to atmospheric intraseasonal wind pulses, which are part of the planetary-scale boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation characterized by the northeastward propagation of atmospheric deep convection. The intraseasonal anomalies of sea surface temperature and precipitation are in phase over the SCS, suggesting an oceanic feedback onto the atmosphere. As wind variations are now being routinely monitored by satellite, the lags of 1-3 weeks in oceanic response offer useful predictability that may be exploited.

No abstract

By analyzing satellite observational data and ocean general circulation model experiments, this study investigates the key processes that determine the spatial distribution and seasonality of intraseasonal eddy kinetic energy (EKE) within the Bay of Bengal (BOB). It is revealed that a complicated mechanism involving both local and remote wind forcing and ocean internal instability is responsible for the generation and modulation of EKE in this region. High‐level EKE mainly resides in four regions: east of Sri Lanka (Region 1), the western BOB (Region 2), northwest of Sumatra (Region 3), and the coastal rim of the BOB (Region 4). The high EKE levels in Regions 1 and 2 are predominantly produced by ocean internal instability, which contributes 90% and 79%, respectively. Prominent seasonality is also observed in these two regions, with higher EKE levels in boreal spring and fall due to enhanced instability of the East Indian Coast Current and the Southwest Monsoon Current, respectively. In contrast, ocean internal instability contributes 49% and 52% of the total EKE in Regions 3 and 4, respectively, whereas the atmospheric forcing of intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) also plays an important role. ISOs produce EKE mainly through wind stress, involving both the remote effect of equatorial winds and the local effect of monsoonal winds. Equatorial‐origin wave signals significantly enhance the EKE levels in Regions 3 and 4, in the form of reflected Rossby waves and coastal Kelvin waves, respectively. The local wind forcing effect through Ekman pumping also has a significant contribution in Regions 3 and 4 (24% and 22%, respectively).

No abstract

The pattern of meridional overturning circulation (MOC) in the South China Sea (SCS) is studied using a numerical Lagrangian tracing method with the HYCOM1NCODA Global 1/12 Analysis (GLBa0.08) data. The SCS MOC has a ''sandwich'' structure, which consists of a layer of stronger clockwise circulation above 500 m depth, a counterclockwise layer in the mid layer between 500 and 1000 m depth, and a weaker clockwise layer below 1000 m. The deep (below 1000 m depth) clockwise layer is divided into three cells, namely, the deep southern MOC cell, DSMOC; the deep middle MOC cell, DMMOC; and the unclosed deep northern MOC cell, DNMOC. The inflow through the Luzon Strait is the main source for the SCS MOCs. The upper layer Luzon Strait inflow dominates the upper SCS MOC structure but has relatively less contribution to the DNMOC, whereas the deep layer Luzon Strait inflow mainly influences the DNMOC and it mostly rises near 18 N. The inflow through the Taiwan Strait mainly contributes to the upper layer MOC. Moreover, inflows from the Mindoro and Karimata straits contribute negatively to the upper MOC but play a significant role on the DSMOC. The backward integration of Lagrangian trajectories further validates that the SCS deep water comes not only from the deep inflow but also from the entrainment of the middle and upper layer inflow through the Luzon Strait. In the SCS basin, there are three northwest-southeast tilted zones where tracers upwell, which correspond to the three deep MOC cells. One possible mechanism for these upwelling zones is the interaction between the continental slope-trapped waves and the westward planetary Rossby waves.

[1] Based on more than 3 years of moored current-meter records, this study examined seasonal variability of near-inertial kinetic energy (NIKE) as well as all large (greater than one standard deviation from the mean) NIKE events related to storms and eddies in the northwestern South China Sea. The NIKE in the subsurface layer (30-450 m) exhibited obvious seasonal variability with larger values in autumn (herein defined as August, September, and October). All large NIKE events during the observation period were generated by passing storms. Most of the NIKE events had an e-folding timescale longer than 7 d. The phase velocity, vertical wavelength, and frequency shift of these events were examined. The maximum NIKE, induced by typhoon ''Neoguri,'' was observed in April 2008. Normal mode analysis suggested that the combined effects of the first four modes determined the vertical distribution of NIKE with higher NIKE below 70 m but lower NIKE from 30 to 70 m. Another near-inertial oscillation event observed in August 2007 had the longest e-folding timescale of 13.5 d. Moreover, the NIKE propagated both upward and downward during this event. A ray-tracing model indicated that the smaller Brunt-V€ ais€ al€ a frequency and the stronger vertical shear of horizontal currents in an anticyclonic eddy and the near-inertial wave with larger horizontal scale facilitated the unusual propagation of the NIKE and the long decay timescale. Although the NIKE originated from wind, the water column structure affected by diverse oceanographic processes contributed substantially to its complex propagation and distribution.

No abstract