Observations of near surface current at the Luzon Strait in winter

One hundred and ninety-one Argos satellite-tracked drifters deployed at the Luzon Strait in winter during 1991 to 2004 were ana- lyzed to understand the near surface current in northern South China Sea (SCS). Several major track patterns of these drifters have been found. There are: (1)shelf slope landing way (SLW) ; (2)deep basin way (DBW) ;(3) weak loop current pattern; (4) northward movement directly driven by the Kuroshio. These observations show the effects of the basin scale gyre circulation, mesoscale eddies and the Kuroshio on the drifters' ovement.     

Surface circulation patterns observed by drifters in the Yellow Sea in summer of 2001, 2002 and 2003

In summer of 2001, 2002 and 2003, ten, six and seventeen satellite-tracked surface drifters with drogues centered at 15 and 4 m were deployed, respectively, in the southern Yellow Sea (YS). 23 drifters of them transmitted useful data of at least 30 days. The wind-driven component of the drift was removed from the original drift velocity of drifters. The wind data used are from NCEP (National Center for Environmental Prediction), USA.Trajectories and drift velocities of the 23 drifters depicted the upper circulation structure in the southern YS. There exists an anti-cyclonic eddy with a mean speed and radius of 0.063 m/s and 50km in the central southern YS, whose center lingered within 35.3-36.0°N / 123.5-124.0°E. Showed by 6 drifters, a basin-scale elliptic cyclonic gyre with a mean speed of 0.114 m/s, long and short radius of 250 and 200 km surrounds the anti-cyclonic eddy. In the southwestern part of the southern YS has obvious frontal eddy activities within about 100 km with a mean speed about 0.076     

入侵南海的黑潮流套及其脱落涡旋

将2003年、2004年和2005年秋、冬季在吕宋海峡投放的卫星跟踪漂流浮标(Argos)资料用于分析黑潮通过吕宋海峡时的流型。结果表明,秋、冬季黑潮表层流存在3种类型:北向型、西向型和流套-涡旋型,后两种入侵南海。统计分析指出吕宋海峡表层流进入流套-涡旋型路径的概率为0.23,黑潮流套的纬向尺度最大达210km,仅发生在恒春海脊西侧的台湾岛西南海域。黑潮流套仅是黑潮流分离的一部分,而非黑潮整体蛇形入侵南海,这与墨西哥湾的蛇形流不一样。在流套内西向流速大于东向流速,这可能是流套西向发展的原因之一,黑潮流套常可演变成脱落涡旋,也可能就地消亡。脱落涡旋以约10cm/s速度西移。     

Potential of Argo Drifters for Estimating Biological Production within the Water Column

Argo drifters provide information of the vertical structure in the water column and have a potential for the improvement of understanding phytoplankton primary production and biogeochemical cycles in combination with ocean color satellite data, which can obtain the horizontal distribution of phytoplankton biomass in the surface layer. Our examples show that using Argo drifters with satellite-measured horizontal distribution of phytoplankton biomass at the sea surface allow an improved understanding of the development of the spring bloom. The other possible uses of Argo drifter are discussed.     

自持式剖面循环探测漂流浮标水下运动过程实例分析

文章对正在研制中的“自持式剖面循环探测漂流浮标”完成一个剖面测量任务的过程,进行了运动分析和数值计算。数值计算结果与试验数据的对比显示,数值计算结果是可信的,这对了解浮标在水下的运动状态提供直观的帮助,并为浮标的海上试验提供了参考依据。