Simulation of double cold cores of the 35°N section in the Yellow Sea with a wave-tide-circulation coupled model

Based on the MASNUM wave-tide-circulation coupled numerical model, the temperature structure along 35°N in the Yellow Sea was simulated and compared with the observations. One of the notable features of the temperature structure along 35°N section is the double cold cores phenomena during spring and summer. The double cold cores refer to the two cold water centers located near 122°E and 125°E from the depth of 30m to bottom. The formation, maintenance and disappearance of the double cold cores are discussed. At least two reasons make the temperature in the center (near 123°E) of the section higher than that near the west and east shores in winter. One reason is that the water there is deeper than the west and east sides so its heat content is higher. The other is invasion of the warm water brought by the Yellow Sea Warm Current (YSWC) during winter. This temperature pattern of the lower layer (from 30m to bottom) is maintained through spring and summer when the upper layer (0 to 30m) is heated and strong thermocline is formed. Large zonal span of the 35°N section (about 600 km) makes the cold cores have more opportunity to survive. The double cold cores phenomena disappears in early autumn when the west cold core vanishes first with the dropping of the thermocline position. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. G1999043809) and the National Science Foundation of China (No. 49736190).     

Statistical study on relationship of El Niño events and the hydrography along 137°E in summer

Principal component analysis (PCA) used by meteorologists and oceanographers is a powerful tool for the analysis of the spatial and temporal variability of physical fields. This study is aimed at applying “quasi-local PCA for singular factor” to make the cumulative percentage for the first principal component as great as possible, so that the many-dimension problem can be reduced to a single-dimension one, and at combining PCA with stepwise regression analysis to parameterize the relationship between El Niño events and the anomalies in hydrographic factors along 137°E in summer. The results show that the hydrography on 30–50 m levels at 7–9°N along 137°E in summer is very closely correlated with El Niño events because of the thermocline movement caused by enhanced upwelling in this area during El Niño years.     

A statistical study on relationship of El Niño events to the hydrography along 137 °E in winter

Principal component analysis (PCA) as used by meteorologists and oceanographers is a powerful tool for analysis of the spatial and temporal variability of physical fields. This study was aimed at applying “quasi-local PCA for singular factor” to make the cumulative percentage for the first principal component as great as possible, so that a multi-dimensional problem can be reduced to a single-dimensional one, and then stepwise regression analysis can be used to parameterize the relationship between El Niño events and the hydrographic factor anomalies along 137 °E in winter. The results show that the salinity anomalies on 30 m level, the sigmat on 250 m level, and the temperature on 300 m level at 8 °N are most closely related with El Niño events because of thermocline movement caused by enhanced upwelling in this area during El Niño years.     

Distribution of the tropical Pacific surface zonal wind anomaly and its relation with two types of El Niño

El Nio events with an eastern Pacific pattern(EP) and central Pacific pattern(CP) were first separated using rotated empirical orthogonal functions(REOF).Lead/lag regression and rotated singular value decomposition(RSVD) analyses were then carried out to study the relation between the surface zonal wind(SZW) anomalies and sea surface temperature(SST) anomalies in the tropical Pacific.A possible physical process for the CP El Ni o was proposed.For the EP El Ni o,strong westerly anomalies that spread eastward continuously produce an anomalous ocean zonal convergence zone(ZCZ) centered on about 165°W.This SZW anomaly pattern favors poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator.For the CP El Nio,westerly anomalies and the ZCZ are mainly confined to the western Pacific,and easterly anomalies blow in the eastern Pacific.This SZW anomaly pattern restrains poleward and eastward Sverdrup transport at the equator;however,there is an eastward Sverdrup transport at about 5°N,which favors the warming of the north-eastern tropical Pacific.It is found that the slowness of eastward propagation of subsurface warm water(partly from the downwelling caused by Ekman convergence and the ZCZ) is due to the slowdown of the undercurrent in the central basin,and vertical advection in the central Pacific may be important in the formation and disappearance of the CP El Nio.     

Surface thermal centroid anomaly of the eastern equatorial Pacific as a unified Niño index

By analyzing the variability of global SST(sea surface temperature) anomalies,we propose a unified Ni o index using the surface thermal centroid anomaly of the region along the Pacific equator embraced by the 0.7°C contour line of the standard deviation of the SST anomalies and try to unify the traditional Ni o regions into a single entity.The unified Ni o region covers almost all of the traditional Ni o regions.The anomaly time series of the averaged SST over this region are closely correlated to historical Ni o indices.The anomaly time series of the zonal and meridional thermal centroid have close correlation with historical TNI(Trans-Ni o index) indices,showing differences among El Ni o(La Ni a) events.The meridional centroid anomaly suggests that areas of maximum temperature anomaly are moving meridionally(although slightly) with synchronous zonal movement.The zonal centroid anomalies of the unified Ni o region are found helpful in the classification of the Eastern Pacific(EP)/Central Pacific(CP) types of El Ni o events.More importantly,the zonal centroid anomaly shows that warm areas might move during a single warming/cooling phase.All the current Ni o indices can be well represented by a simple linear combination of unified Ni o indices,which suggests that the thermal anomaly(SSTA) and thermal centroid location anomaly of the unified Ni o region would yield a more complete image of each El Ni o/ La Ni a event.     

Research on the response of the upper layer heat structure in the Western Pacific Warm Pool to the mean Madden-Julian Oscillation

1　Introduction　TheMadden JulianOscillation (MJO)isastrongatmosphericconvection phenomenonoccurringovertheEasternIndianOceanandtheTropicalWesternPacific,usuallyinregionswithseasurfacetempera tures (SSTs)over 2 9℃ .Theeastwardmovingofalarge scalecirculat…     

Precipitation patterns in flood season over China associated with the El Niño/Southern Osciliation

The precipitation patterns in flood season over China associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are investigated, especially in the eastern China, using the rather long period rainfall data in this century. The results show that there were remarkable differences between the precipitation patterns in flood seasons of ENSO warm phase (El Niño year) and cold phase (La Niña year), as well as between the patterns in El Niño years and their following years. The most parts of China received below normal rainfall in flood season of the onset years of El Niño events, but the coastal area of Southeast China received above normal amounts. Comparatively, the most parts of China received above normal rainfall in flood season of the following years of El Niño events, but the eastern part of the reaches among the Huanghe (Yellow) River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River, and the Northeast China received less. During ENSO cold phase, the reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and the North China received more amounts than normal rainfall in flood season of the onset years of La Niña events, and the other regions of China received less. In the following years of La Niña events, the coastal area of the Southeast China, the most part of the Northeast China and the regions between the Huanghe River and the Huaihe River received more precipitation during flood seasons, but the other parts received below normal precipitation.     

A comparative study of spatially clustered distribution of jumbo flying squid (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Dosidicus gigas</Emphasis>) offshore Peru

We examined spatially clustered distribution of jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the offshore waters of Peru bounded by 78°–86°W and 8°–20°S under 0.5°×0.5° fishing grid. The study is based on the catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and fishing effort from Chinese mainland squid jigging fleet in 2003–2004 and 2006–2013. The data for all years as well as the eight years (excluding El Niño events) were studied to examine the effect of climate variation on the spatial distribution of D. gigas. Five spatial clusters reflecting the spatial distribution were computed using K-means and Getis-Ord Gi* for a detailed comparative study. Our results showed that clusters identified by the two methods were quite different in terms of their spatial patterns, and K-means was not as accurate as Getis-Ord Gi*, as inferred from the agreement degree and receiver operating characteristic. There were more areas of hot and cold spots in years without the impact of El Niño, suggesting that such large-scale climate variations could reduce the clustering level of D. gigas. The catches also showed that warm El Niño conditions and high water temperature were less favorable for D. gigas offshore Peru. The results suggested that the use of K-means is preferable if the aim is to discover the spatial distribution of each sub-region (cluster) of the study area, while Getis-Ord Gi* is preferable if the aim is to identify statistically significant hot spots that may indicate the central fishing ground.     

Interpretation of sea surface wind interannual vector EOFs over the China seas

Using interpolation and averaging methods, we analyzed the sea surface wind data obtained from December 1992 to November 2008 by the scatterometers ERS-1, ERS-2, and QuikSCAT in the area of 2°N–39 °N, 105°E–130°E, and we reported the monthly mean distributions of the sea surface wind field. A vector empirical orthogonal function (VEOF) method was employed to study the data and three temporal and spatial patterns were obtained. The first interannual VEOF accounts for 26% of the interannual variance and displays the interannual variability of the East Asian monsoon. The second interannual VEOF accounts for 21% of the variance and reflects the response of China sea winds to El Niño events. The temporal mode of VEOF-2 is in good agreement with the curve of the Niño 3.4 index with a four-month lag. The spatial mode of VEOF-2 indicates that four months after an El Niño event, the southwesterly anomalous winds over the northern South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Bohai Sea can weaken the prevailing winds in winter, and can strengthen the prevailing winds in summer. The third interannual VEOF accounts for 10% of the variance and also reflects the influence of the ENSO events to China Sea winds. The temporal mode of VEOF-3 is similar to the curve of the Southern Oscillation Index. The spatial mode of VEOF-3 shows that the northeasterly anomalous winds over the South China Sea and the southern part of the East China Sea can weaken the prevailing winds, and southwesterly anomalous winds over the northern part of the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the Bohai Sea can strengthen the prevailing winds when El Niño occurs in winter. If El Niño happens in summer, the reverse is true.     

SST variations of the Kuroshio from AVHRR observation

1 INTRODUCTION The Kuroshio Current (KC), being the western boundary current in the North Pacific subtropical gyre, is the second strongest current in the world af- ter the Gulf Stream and is famous as a strong and fast flow. KC plays an important role in…     

Interannual variability of the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass

Temperature data collected in the sections of 34°N, 35°N and 36°N in August from 1975 through 2003 were analyzed using Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) to investigate interannual variability of the southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM). The first mode (EOF1) reveals variations of basin-wide thermocline depth, which is mainly caused by surface heating. The second mode (EOF2) presents fluctuations of vertical circulation, resulting mainly from interannual variability of cold front intensity. In addition, it is found that the upward extent of upwelling in the cold front is basically determined by wind stress curl and the zonal position of the warm water center in the southern Yellow Sea is correlated with spatial difference of net heat flux.     

Interannual variations of North Equatorial Current transport in the Pacific Ocean during two types of El Niño

Interannual variations of Pacific North Equatorial Current (NEC) transport during eastern-Pacific El Niños (EP-El Niños) and central-Pacific El Niños (CP-El Niños) are investigated by composite analysis with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast Ocean Analysis/Reanalysis System 3. During EP-El Niño, NEC transport shows significant positive anomalies from the developing to decay phases, with the largest anomalies around the mature phase. During CP-El Niño, however, the NEC transport only shows positive anomalies before the mature phase, with much weaker anomalies than those during EP-El Niño. The NEC transport variations are strongly associated with variations of the tropical gyre and wind forcing in the tropical North Pacific. During EP-El Niño, strong westerly wind anomalies and positive wind stress curl anomalies in the tropical North Pacific induce local upward Ekman pumping and westward-propagating upwelling Rossby waves in the ocean, lowering the sea surface height and generating a cyclonic gyre anomaly in the western tropical Pacific. During CP-El Niño, however, strength of the wind and associated Ekman pumping velocity are very weak. Negative sea surface height and cyclonic flow anomalies are slightly north of those during EP El Niño.     

Subtropical air-sea interaction and development of central Pacific El Niño

The standard deviation of the central Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) during the period from October to February shows that the central Pacific SSTA variation is primarily due to the occurrence of the Central Pacific El Nio (CP-El Nio) and has a connection with the subtropical air-sea interaction in the northeastern Pacific. After removing the influence of the Eastern Pacific El Nio, an S-EOF analysis is conducted and the leading mode shows a clear seasonal SSTA evolving from the subtropical northeastern Pacific to the tropical central Pacific with a quasi-biennial period. The initial subtropical SSTA is generated by the wind speed decrease and surface heat flux increase due to a north Pacific anomalous cyclone. Such subtropical SSTA can further influence the establishment of the SSTA in the tropical central Pacific via the wind-evaporation-SST (WES) feedback. After established, the central equatorial Pacific SSTA can be strengthened by the zonal advective feedback and thermocline feedback, and develop into CP-El Nio. However, as the thermocline feedback increases the SSTA cooling after the mature phase, the heat flux loss and the re-versed zonal advective feedback can cause the phase transition of CP-El Nio. Along with the wind stress variability, the recharge (discharge) process occurs in the central (eastern) equatorial Pacific and such a process causes the phase consistency between the thermocline depth and SST anomalies, which presents a contrast to the original recharge/discharge theory.     

Standardization of CPUE for Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) from Chinese trawl fleets in the high seas of the Southeast Pacific Ocean

The generalized linear model (GLM) and generalized additive model (GAM) were applied to the standardization of catch per unit effort (CPUE) for Chilean jack mackerel from Chinese factory trawl fishing fleets in the Southeast Pacific Ocean from 2001 to 2010 by removing the operational, environmental, spatial and temporal impacts. A total of 9 factors were selected to build the GLM and GAM, i.e., Year, Month, Vessel, La Niña and El Niño events (ELE), Latitude, Longitude, Sea surface temperature (SST), SST anomaly (SSTA), Nino3.4 index and an interaction term between Longitude and Latitude. The first 5 factors were significant components in the GLM, which in combination explained 27.34% of the total variance in nominal CPUE. In the stepwise GAM, all factors explained 30.78% of the total variance, with Month, Year and Vessel as the main factors influencing CPUE. The higher CPUE occurred during the period April to July at a SST range of 12–15°C and a SSTA range of 0.2–1.0°C. The CPUE was significantly higher in normal years compared with that in La Niña and El Niño years. The abundance of Chilean jack mackerel declined during 2001 and 2010, with an increase in 2007. This work provided the relative abundance index of Chilean jack mackerel for stock assessment by standardizing catch and effort data of Chinese trawl fisheries and examined the influence of temporal, spatial, environmental and fisheries operational factors on Chilean jack mackerel CPUE.     

Sea level along the southeast coast of China during El Niño

In El Niño years, along the southeast China coast, the seasonal cycle of sea level variation—low in spring, high in autumn—is attenuated: specifically, the autumn peak is reduced by about 10 cm. This negative anomaly increases toward the south and occurs at the same time as a similar (but five times larger) sea level anomaly at Truk Island (7.5°N) in the western Pacific.     

Short- and long-term response of phytoplankton to ENSO in Prydz Bay,Antarctica: Evidences from field measurements,remote sensing data and stratigraphic biomarker records

The study provides one of the first lines of evidence showing linkages between Antarctic phytoplankton abundance and composition in response to ENSO, based on historical reconstruction of sediment biomarkers. In addition to sediment biomarkers, field measured and remote sensing data of phytoplankton abundance were also recorded from Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica. Com-munity structure of field measured phytoplankton showed significant El Ni？o/La Ni？a-related succession during 1990 to 2002. In general, the number of algae species decreased during El Ni？o and La Ni？a years compared to normal years. Austral summer monthly variation of remotely sensed chlorophyll-a （Chl-a）, particulate organic carbon （POC）, and sea surface temperature （SST） indicated that ENSO impacted the timing of phytoplankton blooms during 2007 to 2011. Phytoplankton blooms （indicated by Chl-a and POC） preceded the increases in SST during El Ni？o years, and lagged behind the SST increases during La Ni？a years. Stratigraphic record of marine sedimentary lipid （brassicasterol, dinosterol and alkenones） biomarkers inferred that the proportions of different algae （diatoms, dinoflagellates and haptophytes） changed significantly between El Ni？o and La Ni？a events. The relative proportion of diatoms increased, with that of dinoflagellates being decreased during El Ni？o years, while it was reversed during La Ni？a years.     

Interannual variability of latent and sensible heat fluxes in the South China Sea

The South China Sea (SCS) is significantly influenced by El Niño and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) through ENSO-driven atmospheric and oceanic changes. We analyzed measurements made from 1960 to 2004 to investigate the interannual variability of the latent and sensible heat fluxes over the SCS. Both the interannual variations of latent and sensible heat fluxes are closely related to ENSO events. The low-pass mean heat flux anomalies vary in a coherent manner with the low-pass mean Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). Time lags between the heat flux anomalies and the SST anomalies were also studied. We found that latent heat flux anomalies have a minimum value around January of the year following El Niño events. During and after the mature phase of El Niño, a change of atmospheric circulation alters the local SCS near-surface humidity and the monsoon winds. During the mature phase of El Niño, the wind speed decreases over the entire sea, and the air-sea specific humidity difference anomalies decreases in the northern SCS and increases in the southern SCS. Thus, a combined effect of wind speed anomalies and air-sea specific humidity difference anomalies results in the latent heat flux anomalies attaining minimum levels around January of the year following an El Niño year.     

Analyzing the influences of two types of El Niño on tropical cyclone genesis with a modified genesis potential index

To understand the impacts of large-scale circulation during the evolution of El Niño cycle on tropical cyclones (TC) is important and useful for TC forecast. Based on best-track data from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and reanalysis data from National Centers for Environmental Prediction for the period 1975–2014, we investigated the influences of two types of El Niño, the eastern Pacific El Niño (EP-El Niño) and central Pacific El Niño (CP-El Niño), on global TC genesis. We also examined how various environmental factors contribute to these influences using a modified genesis potential index (MGPI). The composites reproduced for two types of El Niño, from their developing to decaying phases, were able to qualitatively replicate observed cyclogenesis in several basins except for the Arabian Sea. Certain factors of MGPI with more influence than others in various regions are identified. Over the western North Pacific, five variables were all important in the two El Niño types during developing summer (July–August–September) and fall (October–November–December), and decaying spring (April–May–June) and summer. In the eastern Pacific, vertical shear and relative vorticity are the crucial factors for the two types of El Niño during developing and decaying summers. In the Atlantic, vertical shear, potential intensity and relative humidity are important for the opposite variation of EP- and CP-El Niños during decaying summers. In the Southern Hemisphere, the five variables have varying contributions to TC genesis variation during peak season (January–February–March) for the two types of El Niño. In the Bay of Bengal, relative vorticity, humidity and omega may be responsible for clearly reduced TC genesis during developing fall for the two types and slightly suppressed TC cyclogenesis during EP-El Niño decaying spring. In the Arabian Sea, the EP-El Niño generates a slightly positive anomaly of TC genesis during developing falls and decaying springs, but the MGPI failed to capture this variation.

     

Meridional Variation of the 1955-2003 Sea Level Anomalies in the Tropical Pacific Ocean Associated with El Nifio Events

The Sea Level Anomaly-Torque （SLAT, relative to a reference location in the Pacific Ocean）, which means the total torque of the gravity forces of sea waters with depths equal to the Sea Level Anomaly （S/A） in the tropical Pacific Ocean, is defined in this study. The time series of the SLAT from merged altimeter data （1993-2003） had a great meridional variation during the 1997-1998 E1 Nifio event. By using historical upper layer temperature data （1955-2003） for the tropical Pacific Ocean, the temperature-based SLAT is also calculated and the meridional variation can be found in the historical E1 Nifio events （1955-2003）, which suggests that the meridional shifts of the sea level anomaly are also intrinsic oscillating modes of the E1 Nifio cycles like the zonal shifts.     

Major mid-late Holocene cooling in the East China Sea revealed by an alkenone sea surface temperature record

Although the mid-late Holocene cold and dry event about 4000 years ago(the 4 ka event) has been observed almost globally, it was most prominent in terrestrial climate proxies from the lower latitudes. Here we evaluate the oceanic response to this event in terms of a Holocene sea surface temperature(SST) record reconstructed using the K'37U index for Core B3 on the continental shelf of the East China Sea. The record reveals a large temperature drop of about 5℃ from the mid-Holocene(24.7℃ at 5.6 ka) to the 4 ka event(19.2℃ at 3.8 ka). This mid-late Holocene cooling period in Core B3 correlated with(i) decreases in the East Asia summer monsoon intensity and(ii) the transition period with increased El Nino/Southern Oscillation activities in the Equatorial Pacific. Our SST record provides oceanic evidence for a more global nature of the mid-late Holocene climate change, which was most likely caused by a southward migration of the Intertropical Converge Zone in response to the decreasing summer solar insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the large SST drop around Core B3 indicates that the mid-late Holocene cooling was regionally amplified by the initiation/strengthening of eddy circulation/cold front which caused upwelling and resulted in additional SST decrease. Upwelling during the mid-late Holocene also enhanced with surface productivity in the East China Sea as reflected by higher alkenone content around Core B3.