台湾东北黑潮入侵东海陆架强度的变化规律:持续一年的ADCP现场流速观测

本文利用台湾东北陆坡附近海域持续一年的多普勒流速剖面仪(AcousticDopplerCurrent Profilers,ADCP)定点深水测流数据提取了观测站点处黑潮跨陆坡入侵强度的时间序列,并与美国海军混合坐标海洋模式(HybridCoordinateOceanModel,HYCOM)分析数据中提取的观测站点处以及台湾东北陆坡东西区段黑潮入侵强度的时间序列进行了对比研究。研究结果显示黑潮在观测站点处的跨陆坡入侵强度存在显著的季节和季节内变化特征,并且与台湾东北黑潮主轴位置的摆动有较好的对应关系,黑潮主轴东(西)移,则黑潮在台湾东北陆坡西段及观测站点处的入侵显著减弱(增强),而在台湾东北陆坡东段的入侵显著增强(减弱)。此外,观测站点处黑潮跨陆坡入侵强度的时间序列还显示出较强的10d和20d左右的短周期信号,其中10d的周期信号对应着东海黑潮斜压不稳定波动的特征周期,而20d的周期信号则体现了台湾东北附近海域局地涡旋的短期变化。     

Effect of wave spectrum width on the probability density distribution of wind-wave heights

The probability distribution of wave heights under the assumption of narrowband linear wave theory follows the Rayleigh distribution and the statistical relationships between some characteristic wave heights,derived from this distribution,are widely used for the treatment of realistic wind waves. However,the bandwidth of wave frequency influences the probability distribution of wave heights. In this paper,a wave-spectrum-width parameter B was introduced into the JONSWAP spectrum. This facilitated the construction of a wind-wave spectrum and the reconstruction of wind-wave time series for various growth stages,based on which the probability density distributions of the wind-wave heights were studied statistically. The distribution curves deviated slightly from the theoretical Rayleigh distribution with increasing B. The probability that a wave height exceeded a certain value was clearly smaller than the theoretical value for B ≥0.3,and the difference between them increased with the threshold value. The relation between the H s /σ ratio and B was investigated statistically,which revealed that the H s / σ ratio deviated from 4.005 and declined with B. When B reached 0.698 1,the H s / σ ratio was 3.825,which is about 95.5% of its original value. This indicates an overestimation in the prediction of H s from H s =4.005 σ,and provides a potential method for improving the accuracy of the H s remote sensing retrieval algorithm,critical for extremely large waves under severe sea states.     

南海北部一次台风浪过程的数值模拟

采用Holland 模型将2009 年6 号台风莫拉菲参数化, 并通过一个权重系数将模型风场和背景风场叠加起来, 构造了南海北部台风过境时的风场。随后通过时空插值, 将该风场以空间分辨率5′×5′、时间步长1 h 的精度输入到SWAN(Simulating Waves Nearshore)模式中, 模拟了莫拉菲台风通过时南海北部的海浪场。然后使用Jason-2 卫星波高数据对模式进行了验证, 结果表明模式结果与实测值吻合良好。利用模式结果我们分析了台风中心和海浪场的最大有效波高中心的位置关系, 以及台风风场结构和海浪场结构的关系。最后, 通过计算海浪场的能量并将其与风要素和浪要素对比, 我们研究了台风过境期间海浪场的动力机制。     

Path transition of the western boundary current with a gap due to mesoscale eddies: a 1.5-layer,wind-driven experiment

Using a 1.5 layer nonlinear shallow-water reduced-gravity model, we executed numerical simulations to investigate the possibility of a western boundary current (WBC) path transition due to mesoscale eddies based on the background of the Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) from the Luzon Strait. Because the WBC existed different current states with respect to different wind stress control parameters, we chose three steady WBC states (loop current, eddy shedding and leaping) as the background flow field and simulated the path transition of the WBC due to mesoscale eddies. Our simulations indicated that either an anticyclonic or cyclonic eddy can lead to path transition of the WBC with different modes. The simulation results also show that the mesoscale eddies can lead to path transition of the WBC from loop and eddy shedding state to leaping state because of the hysteresis effect. The leaping state is relatively stable compared with the mesoscale eddies. Moreover, an anticyclonic eddy is more effective in producing the WBC path transition for the path transition than a cyclonic eddy. Our results may help to explain some phenomena observed regarding the path transition of the Kuroshio due to the mesoscale eddies at the Luzon Strait.     

Observations of Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea

To discuss the intrusion of the Kuroshio into the SCS, we examined the mixing between the North Pacific and South China Sea (SCS) waters based on in-situ CTD data collected in August and September 2008 and the moored ADCP data taken from mid September 2008 to early July 2009. The CTD survey included four meridional sections from 119°E to 122°E around the Luzon Strait, during which pressure, temperature, and salinity were measured. The CTD data show that the isopycnal surface tilted from the SCS to the North Pacific; and it was steeper in the lower layers than in the upper ones. Meanwhile, we found strong vertical mixing taken place in the areas near 121°E. The Kuroshio in high temperature and salinity intruded westward through Luzon Strait. The frequency of buoyancy was one order of magnitude greater than that of the common ones in the ocean, suggesting stronger stratification in the northeastern SCS. On the other hand, the long-term ADCP data show that before late October 2008, the direction of water flow in the SCS was eastward, and from November 2008 to late February 2009, it turned northwestward in the layers shallower than 150 m, while remained unchanged in deep layers from 200 to 450 m. From March to June 2009, the direction shifted with increasing depth from northward to southward, akin to the Ekman spiral. EOF analysis of the current time series revealed dominant empirical modes: the first mode corresponded to the mean current and showed that the Kuroshio intrusion occurred in the upper layers only from late December to early March. The temporal coefficient of the first and the second mode indicated clearly a dominant signal in a quasi-seasonal cycle.     

Internal solitary waves on the southwest shelf of Dongsha Island observed from mooring ADCP

Internal solitary waves(ISWs) are frequently observed in the area between Dongsha Island(DI) and Taiwan Island. However, there have been few in-situ observations southwest of DI. To improve our knowledge of ISWs in this area, we observed the ISWs over the continental shelf(115.4°E, 20.3°N) from Aug. 29 to Oct. 10, 2011 with temperature sensors and an acoustic Doppler current profiler(ADCP). The observations showed that the a fully developed ISW produced a current whose maximum westward velocity was 0.92 m/s and maximum northward velocity was 0.47 m/s. During the 41-day observation period the ISWs appeared for three periods with about 7-day gaps between each period. During each day, two types of ISWs were observed. The first type of wave arrived regularly diurnally at the same time each day, with a similar pattern to that of the type- a wave identified by Ramp et al.(2004). The second type arrived about 12 h after the first type and was delayed about 1 hour each day; this wave type was related to the type- b wave. Thus, our observations confirmed that both type- a and type- b waves can reach the area southwest of the DI. Moreover, the waves observed by the mooring propagated toward the directions of 270°–315° clockwise from true north, indicating obvious refraction from uneven topography around DI.