Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea observed with altimeter data

Wang, Guihua; Su, Jilan; Chu, Peter C.

doi:10.1029/2003gl018532

Cited by 397 publications

(313 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…According to the eddy generation mechanisms, eddies in the SCS are grouped into four geographical zones by Wang et al [2003b], and their statistical characteristics are well documented in subsequent studies by Xiu et al [2010]. Modeling results by Chu et al [1998] indicated wind effect in generating the SCS deep eddies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Eddy energy sources and sinks in the South China Sea

Yang

Liu

et al. 2013

JGR Oceans

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[1] The eddy energy sources and sinks in the South China Sea (SCS) are studied based on a high-resolution ocean circulation model. Eddies are found to acquire their energy from barotropic instability (BT), the release of available potential energy (APE) associated with baroclinic instability (BC) and horizontal convergence from surrounding areas, while they lose energy due to turbulent processes. Both the eddy energy sources and sinks show western intensification with their maximum around the southwestern SCS where most of the wind-input energy occurs, and the Luzon Strait where the Kuroshio intrudes the SCS in winter. Unlike that in the open ocean, the eddy energy in the inner SCS is confined to the upper layer. Besides, the eddy energy indicates clear seasonal variability, especially at the Luzon Strait where the eddy activity is much stronger in winter than in summer. Energy budget analysis suggests that APE releasing is found to be the most important eddy energy source, accounting for over 60% of the total, followed by energy convergence from surrounding areas in horizontal direction (around 20%) and energy released from BT (around 15%). Most of the generated energy is mainly balanced by the turbulent processes, while both of the downward energy flux and tendency term are negligible.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Eddy energy sources and sinks in the South China Sea

Yang

Liu

et al. 2013

JGR Oceans

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“…Its cross-section temperature, salinity and density characters show that the isotherm and isopycnal of 18°N cross-section appeared to be high in the west and low in the east, both at surface and sub-surface Influenced by the monsoon, the Kuroshio intrusion and complex topography, a large amount of eddies are generated in the SCS, especially the anti-cyclonic warm eddies in the northern SCS [44][45][46]. However, these eddies are seldom captured by in-situ observations.…”

Section: Interannual Variability Of the Scswbcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress of regional oceanography study associated with western boundary current in the South China Sea

et al. 2013

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Recent progress of physical oceanography in the South China Sea (SCS) associated with the western boundary current (WBC) and eddies is reviewed in this paper. It includes Argo observations of the WBC, eddy detection in the WBC based on satellite images, cross-continental shelf exchange in the WBC, eddy-current interaction, interannual variability of the WBC, air-sea interaction, the SCS throughflow (SCSTF), among others. The WBC in the SCS is strong, and its structure, variability and dynamic processes on seasonal and interannual time scales are yet to be fully understood. In this paper, we summarize progresses on the variability of the WBC, eddy-current interaction, air-sea interaction, and the SCSTF achieved in the past few years. Firstly, using the drifting buoy observations, we point out that the WBC becomes stronger and narrower after it reaches the central Vietnam coast. The possible mechanisms influencing the ocean circulation in the northern SCS are discussed, and the dynamic mechanisms that induce the countercurrent in the region of northern branch of WBC in winter are also studied quantitatively using momentum balance. The geostropic component of the WBC was diagnosed using the ship observation along 18°N, and we found that the WBC changed significantly on interannual time scale. Secondly, using the ship observations, two anti-cyclonic eddies in the winter of 2003/2004 in the northern SCS, and three anti-cyclonic eddies in the summer of 2007 along 18°N were studied. The results show that the two anti-cyclonic eddies can propagate southwestward along the continental shelf at the speed of first Rossby wave (~0.1 m s 1 ) in winter, and the interaction between the three anti-cyclonic eddies in summer and the WBC in the SCS is preliminarily revealed. Eddies on the continental shelf of northern SCS propagated southeastward with a maximum speed of 0.09 m s 1 , and those to the east of Vietnam coast had the largest kinetic energy, both of which imply strong interaction between eddy activity and WBC in the SCS. Thirdly, strong intraseasonal variability (ISV) of sea surface temperature (SST) near the WBC regions was found, and the ISV signal of SST in winter weakens the ISV signal of latent heat flux by 20%. Fourthly, the long-term change of SCSTF volume transport and its connection with the ocean circulation in the Pacific were discussed.South China Sea, western boundary current, eddy, eddy-current interaction, intraseasonal variability, South China Sea thoughflow Citation:Wang D X, Liu Q Y, Xie Q, et al. Progress of regional oceanography study associated with western boundary current in

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“…The synergy of satellite observations and model simulations indicates that the high-frequent sea level variations in deep basin are mainly attributed to flow instabilities and tend to propagate along high-variance bands (Zhuang et al, 2010). The geographical distributions and tracks of eddies are firstly depicted by Wang et al (2003b) based on a merged altimetry dataset. Following this work, recently Xiu et al (2010) describe various eddy characteristics in the SCS using numerical study and show the westward tendency of eddy trajectories.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%