Comparisons of several evaporation/precipitation datasets for the Bohai Sea based on salinity simulation

Evaporation (E) rate and precipitation (P) rate are two significant meteorological elements required in the ocean baroclinic modeling as external forcings. However, there are some uncertainties in the currently used E/P rates datasets, especially in terms of the data quality. In this study, we collected E/P rates data from ERA-40, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis, HOAPS for the Bohai Sea and nine routine stations around Laizhou Bay, and made comparisons among them. It was found that the differences in E/P rates between land and sea are remarkable, which was due to the difference in underlying surfaces. Therefore, the traditional way of using E/P rates acquired on land directly at sea is not correct. Since no final conclusion has been reached concerning the net water transport between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, it is unfeasible to judge the adequacy of the four kinds of data by using the water budget equation. However, the E/P rates at ERA-40 sea points were considered to be the optimal in terms of temporal/spatial coverage and resolution for the hindcast of salinity variation in the Bohai Sea. Besides, using the 3-D hydrodynamic model HAMSOM (HAMburg Shelf Ocean Model), we performed numerical experiments with different E/P datasets and found that the E/P rates at sea points from ERA-40 dataset are better than those from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset. If NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis E/P rates are to be used, they need to be adjusted and tested prior to simulation so that more close-to-reality salinity values can be reproduced.