The Cold Tongue in the South China Sea during Boreal Winter and Its Interaction with the Atmosphere |
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Authors: | Hamza VARIKODEN A A SAMAH and C A BABU |
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Institution: | National Antarctic Research Centre, University of Malaya, IPS Building, Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia,National Antarctic Research Centre, University of Malaya, IPS Building, Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia,National Antarctic Research Centre, University of Malaya, IPS Building, Kuala Lumpur-50603, Malaysia |
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Abstract: | A distinct cold tongue has recently been noticed in the South China Sea
during the winter monsoon, with the cold tongue temperature minimum
occurring in the January or February. This cold tongue shows significant
links with the Maritime Continents rainfall during the winter period. The
cold tongue and its interaction with the Maritime Continents weather were
studied using Reynolds SST data, wind fields from the NCEP--NCAR reanalysis
dataset and the quikSCAT dataset. In addition, rainfall from the GOES
Precipitation Index (GPI) for the periods 2000 to 2008 was also used. The
propagation of the cold tongue towards the south is explained using wind
dynamics and the western boundary current. During the period of strong cold
tongue, the surface wind is strong and the western boundary current advects
the cold tongue to the south. During the period of strong winds the zonal
gradient of SST is high 0.5oC (25 km)-1]. The cold tongue plays
an important role in regulating the climate over the Maritime Continent. It
creates a zonal/meridional SST gradient and this gradient ultimately leads
in the formation of convection. Hence, two maximum precipitation zones are
found in the Maritime Continent, with a zone of relatively lower
precipitation between, which coincides with the cold tongues regions. It
was found that the precipitation zones have strong links with the intensity
of the cold tongue. During stronger cold tongue periods the precipitation on
either side of the cold tongue is considerably greater than during weaker
cold tongue periods. The features of convection on the eastern and western
sides of the cold tongue behave differently. On the eastern side convection
is preceded by one day with SST gradient, while on the western side it is
four days. |
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Keywords: | cold tongue SST gradient wind precipitation |
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