The South China Sea (SCS) is a semi-enclosed tropical and sub-tropical sea located between the Asian land mass (including Taiwan) to the west and north, the

Abstract. An extensive airborne expendable bathythermograph survey of the South China Sea (SCS) conducted in May 1995 and historical data are used to analyze and infer the upper layer (300 m) synoptic structure and general circulation. The primary thermal feature observed was a central SCS warm pool surrounded by several cool pools. The size of the warm pool decreased with depth from approximately 200,000 km • at 50 m depth to about 70,000 km • at 300 m depth. The maximum temperature of the warm pool was 30øC, appearing near the surface. At the depth of 50 m, the temperature of the central SCS warm pool was 29øC, and the temperature of the five surrounding cool pools ranged from 26øC to 22øC. A three-dimensional estimate of the absolute velocity field was obtained from the observed temperature field and a climatological salinity field using the/ • spiral method. Striking circulation features were the existence of dual anticyclonic eddies in the central SCS warm pool and the existence of cyclonic eddies associated with the coo! pools. In the upper layer the tangential velocity of the dual central SCS anticyclonic warm-core eddies is around 30-40 cm/s and that of the five cyclonic cool-core ddies varies from 10 cm/s to 40 cm/s. The tangential velocity of all the eddies decreased with depth. At 300 m depth, it became less than 5 cm/s for all the eddies. 1.

The seasonal ocean circulation and the seasonal thermal structure in the South China Sea (SCS) were studied numerically using the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) with 20-km horizontal resolution and 23 sigma levels conforming to a realistic bottom topography. A 16-month control run was performed using climatological monthly mean wind stresses, restoring-type surface salt and heat, and observational oceanic inflow/outflow at the open boundaries. The seasonally averaged effects of isolated forcing terms are presented and analyzed from the following experiments: 1) nonlinear dynamic effects removed, 2) wind effects removed, and 3) open boundary inflow/outflow set to zero. This procedure allowed analysis of the contribution of individual parameters to the general hydrology and specific features of the SCS: for example, coastal jets, mesoscale topographic gyres, and countercurrents. The results show that the POM model has the capability of simulating seasonal variations of the SCS circulation and thermohaline structure. The simulated SCS surface circulation is generally anticyclonic (cyclonic) during the summer (winter) monsoon period with a strong western boundary current, a mean maximum speed of 0.5 m s21 (0.95 m s21), a mean volume transport of 5.5 Sv (10.6 Sv) (Sv [ 106 m3 s21), and extending to a depth of around 200 m (500 m). During summer, the western boundary current splits and partially leaves the coast; the bifurcation point is at 148N in May and shifts south to 108N in July. A mesoscale eddy on the

ment, ⋅ thermocline, ⋅ halocline, ⋅ skill score, ⋅ bias, ⋅ root-mean square error.

Abstract not found

The monthly mean TOPEX/POSEIDON crossover data in the South China Sea are used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface height anomaly (SSHA). Multi-time scale variability is found using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The seasonal variability dominates SSHA with two spatial patterns: basin-wide gyre and north-south double gyres. The intraseasonal variability of SSH has high spatial variability at the continental shelf such as west of Hainan Island and Borneo, and east-west double gyre structure in the deep basin. The interannual variability of SSHA has a north-south double gyre pattern. The scale interaction between seasonal and interannual processes may be taken place at the north-south double gyre pattern.

The monthly mean TOPEX/POSEIDON crossover data in the South China Sea are used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of sea surface height anomaly (SSHA). Multi-time scale variability is found using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The seasonal variability dominates SSHA with two spatial patterns: basin-wide gyre and north-south double gyres. The intraseasonal variability of SSH has high spatial variability at the continental shelf such as west of Hainan Island and Borneo, and east-west double gyre structure in the deep basin. The interannual variability of SSHA has a north-south double gyre pattern. The scale interaction between seasonal and interannual processes may be taken place at the north-south double gyre pattern.

pen A ccess Modes of zonal mean temperature variability 20–100 km from the TIMED/SABER observations

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East Asian marginal seas prediction using a coastal atmosphere-ocean coupled system (CAOCS)