Empirical orthogonal modes in the Western Pacific

The method of empirical orthogonal modes has been widely used since the 1970's in physical oceanography to study and rebuild vertical structures of ocean dynamic factors. Because of the dominance of the low modes, the dynamic profile data can be largely reduced. Up to now, all expressions of empirical orthogonal modes are numerical. In this study, an analytic expression for empirical orthogonal ocean modes is constructed for convenient use whereby any numerical expressions can be repeated. The features of the normal modes decomposed from the buoyance frequency profiles obtained in October of 1986, 1987 and 1988 by the R/VScience 1 in the western Pacific are quantitatively examined in this study. Contribution No. 1724 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica     

Review on observational studies of western tropical Pacific Ocean circulation and climate

The Western Tropical Pacific(WTP) Ocean holds the largest area of warm water(28℃) in the world ocean referred to as the Western Pacific Warm Pool(WPWP),which modulates the regional and global climate through strong atmospheric convection and its variability.The WTP is unique in terms of its complex 3-D ocean circulation system and intensive multiscale variability,making it crucial in the water and energy cycle of the global ocean.Great advances have been made in understanding the complexity of the WTP ocean circulation and associated climate impact by the international scientific community since the 1960 s through field experiments.In this study,we review the evolving insight to the 3-D structure and multi-scale variability of the ocean circulation in the WTP and their climatic impacts based on in-situ ocean observations in the past decades,with emphasis on the achievements since 2000.The challenges and open que stions remaining are reviewed as well as future plan for international study of the WTP ocean circulation and climate.     

Observation of the abyssal western boundary current in the Philippine Sea

Mooring observations were conducted from July 16, 2011 to March 30, 2012 east of Mindanao, Philippines(127°2.8′E, 8°0.3′N) to observe the abyssal current at about 5600 m deep and 500 m above the ocean bottom. Several features were revealed: 1) the observed abyssal current was highly variable with standard deviations of 57.3 mm/s and 34.0 mm/s, larger than the mean values of-31.9 and 16.6 mm/s for the zonal and meridional components, respectively; 2) low-frequency current longer than 6 days exhibited strong seasonal variation, flowing southeastward(mean flow direction of 119.0° clockwise from north) before about October 1, 2011 and northwestward(mean flow direction of 60.5° counter-clockwise from north) thereafter; 3) the high-frequency flow bands were dominated by tidal currents O 1, K 1, M 2, and S 2, and near-inertial currents, whose frequencies were higher than the local inertial frequency. The two diurnal tidal constituents were much stronger than the two semidiurnal ones. This study provides for the first time an observational insight into the abyssal western boundary current east of Mindanao based on long-term observations at one site. It is meaningful for further research into the deep and abyssal circulation over the whole Philippine Sea and the 3D structure of the western boundary current system in this region. More observational and high-resolution model studies are needed to examine the spatial structure and temporal variation of the abyssal current over a much larger space and longer period, their relation to the upper-layer circulation, and the underlying dynamics.     

A steady model on upweling in a strait

Hsueh and O Brien (1971) proposed a model on coastal upwelling induced by alongshore current. Their model is two - dimensional .steady , f - plane , linear and homogeneous with constant depth , in which wind effect was not considered . In the present paper, we proposed a steady model on upwelling in a strait with alongshore boundary current and wind applied on the surface. The following conclusions have been drawn.1 . Alongshore boundary current contributes more to upwelling than wind near the right coast.2. Alongshore boundary current influence can reach to about 70 km away from the right coast.3. Upwelling in the left half of the strait is mainly produced by wind .4. Under certain conditions, the combined action of wind and alongshore boundary current can produce upwelling in the middle of the strait.     

The long-term variability of sea surface temperature in the seas east of China in the past 40 a

The global surface temperature change since the mid-19th century has caused general concern and intensive study. However, long-term changes in the marginal seas, including the seas east of China, are not well understood because long-term observations are sparse and, even when they exist, they are over limited areas. Preliminary results on the long-term variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in summer and winter in the seas east of China during the period of 1957-2001 are reported using the Ocean Science Database of Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the coastal hydrological station in situ and satellite data. The results show well-defined warming trends in the study area. However warming and cooling trends vary from decade to decade, with steady and rapid warming trends after the 1980s and complicated spatial patterns. The distribution of SST variation is intricate and more blurred in the areas far away from the Kuroshio system. Both historical and satellite data sets show significant warming trends after 1985. The warming trends are larger and spread to wider areas in winter than in summer, which means decrease in the seasonal cycle of SST probably linked with recently observed increase of the tropical zooplankton species in the region. Spatial structures of the SST trends are roughly consistent with the circulation pattern especially in winter when the meridional SST gradients are larger, suggesting that a horizontal advection may play an important role in the long-term SST variability in winter.     

Subsurface temperature and its relation to dynamic height at 130° E across the North Equatorial Current

Temperature profiles down to 1500 m (CTD) collected by Academia Sinica from 1986 to 1990 are used and discussed in relation to the dynamic heights at 130° E across the North Equatorial Current (NEC). An extremely high correlation between subsurface (say at 400 m depth) temperature and dynamic height relative to 1500 db is found, and the corresponding regression relationships suggest a method to estimate geostrophic circulation from subsurface temperature alone. These suggest that the conclusions from extensive studies on this topic in Australian waters also apply to the NEC region, at least at 130°E, thus making the subsurface thermal structure an excellent indicator of the variation of the NEC. Contribution No. 2139 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Two beta spirals in the western boundary region of the Pacific

Beta spiral technique can be used to determine the three dimensional velocity field, usually in the open ocean, as functions of depth at a single location. This work is aimed at applying the method to the lower layers in the western boundary area of the Pacific at two locations covered by 5 CTD stations each and then using the results to study the vertical structure of the western boundary current in the Pacific. Contribution No. 1776 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica. This work is supported by NSFC (No. 4880230).     

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.     

Statistic characteristics of thermal structure in the southern Yellow Sea in summer

Based on the temperature data along 34°N, 35°N and 36°N sections in August from 1977 to 2003, the structure and formation of the Southern Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (SYSCWM) and its responses to El Nino events are analyzed. Results show that: (1) There exist double cold cores under the main thermocline along the 35°N and 36°N sections. Also, double warm cores exist above the main thermocline along the 36°N section. (2) Thermocline dome by upwelling separates the upper warm water into two parts, the eastern and western warm waters. Additionally, the circulation structure caused by upwelling along the cold front and northeastward current along the coast in summer is the main reasons of double warm cores along the 36°N section. The intermediate cold water is formed in early spring and moves eastward slowly, which results in the formation of the western one of double cold cores. (3) Position of the thermocline dome and its intensity vary interannually, which is related to El Nino events. However, the