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Titel |
Eddy characteristics in the northern South China Sea as inferred from Lagrangian drifter data |
VerfasserIn |
Jiaxun Li, Ren Zhang, Jin Baogang |
Medientyp |
Artikel
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Sprache |
Englisch
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ISSN |
1812-0784
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Digitales Dokument |
URL |
Erschienen |
In: Ocean Science ; 7, no. 5 ; Nr. 7, no. 5 (2011-10-21), S.661-669 |
Datensatznummer |
250004805
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Publikation (Nr.) |
copernicus.org/os-7-661-2011.pdf |
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Zusammenfassung |
Cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies from large scale to submesoscale in the
northern South China Sea (NSCS) have been statistically characterized based
on the satellite-tracked Lagrangian drifters using our developed geometric
eddy identification method. There are in total 2208 eddies identified, 70%
of which are anticyclonic eddies. If the submesoscale eddies are
eliminated, the other eddies in the NSCS will show a 1.2:1 ratio of the
number of anticyclones (210) to the number of cyclones (171). The spatial
distribution of the eddies is regional: in southwest of Taiwan, the number
of anticyclones dominates the number of cyclones, and most of them are the
submesoscale anticyclones with small radii; in contrast, the large and
medium cyclonic eddies are a little more than the same scale anticyclonic
eddies in northwest of Luzon. The temporal distribution of eddy number in
the NSCS has a close relation with the Asian monsoon. The number of the
large and medium eddies peaks during the winter monsoon, while the
submesoscale eddies are apt to generate in the summer monsoon. The spatial
and temporal patterns have a good agreement with the results of the sea
surface height anomaly (SSHA). The maximum and mean tangential velocities of
anticyclones (cyclones) are 40 (30) cm s−1 and 25 (15) cm s−1, respectively. The
calculated normalized vorticities from drifters suggest that although the
mesoscale eddies may be considered in geostrophic balance, ageostrophic
dynamics and centrifugal effects may play an important role for the growth
and decay of the mesoscale cores. |
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