Interannual to decadal variation of spring sea level anomaly in the western South China Sea
Satellite observations of sea level anomalies（SLA） from January 1993 to December 2012 are used to investigate the interannual to decadal changes of the boreal spring high SLA in the western South China Sea（SCS） using the Empirical Orthogonal Function（EOF） method. We find that the SLA variability has...
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| Published in | Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 79 - 88 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Heidelberg
Science Press
2017
Springer Nature B.V |
| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 0254-4059 2096-5508 1993-5005 2523-3521 |
| DOI | 10.1007/s00343-016-5203-1 |
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| Summary: | Satellite observations of sea level anomalies（SLA） from January 1993 to December 2012 are used to investigate the interannual to decadal changes of the boreal spring high SLA in the western South China Sea（SCS） using the Empirical Orthogonal Function（EOF） method. We find that the SLA variability has two dominant modes. The Sea Level Changing Mode（SLCM） occurs mainly during La Ni？a years, with high SLA extension from west of Luzon to the eastern coast of Vietnam along the central basin of the SCS, and is likely induced by the increment of the ocean heat content. The Anticyclonic Eddy Mode（AEM） occurs mainly during El Ni？o years and appears to be triggered by the negative wind curl anomalies within the central SCS. In addition, the spring high SLA in the western SCS experienced a quasi-decadal change during 1993–2012; in other words, the AEM predominated during 1993–1998 and 2002–2005, while the La Ni？a-related SLCM prevailed during 1999–2001 and 2006–2012. Moreover, we suggest that the accelerated sea level rise in the SCS during 2005–2012 makes the SLCM the leading mode over the past two decades. |
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| Bibliography: | Satellite observations of sea level anomalies（SLA） from January 1993 to December 2012 are used to investigate the interannual to decadal changes of the boreal spring high SLA in the western South China Sea（SCS） using the Empirical Orthogonal Function（EOF） method. We find that the SLA variability has two dominant modes. The Sea Level Changing Mode（SLCM） occurs mainly during La Ni？a years, with high SLA extension from west of Luzon to the eastern coast of Vietnam along the central basin of the SCS, and is likely induced by the increment of the ocean heat content. The Anticyclonic Eddy Mode（AEM） occurs mainly during El Ni？o years and appears to be triggered by the negative wind curl anomalies within the central SCS. In addition, the spring high SLA in the western SCS experienced a quasi-decadal change during 1993–2012; in other words, the AEM predominated during 1993–1998 and 2002–2005, while the La Ni？a-related SLCM prevailed during 1999–2001 and 2006–2012. Moreover, we suggest that the accelerated sea level rise in the SCS during 2005–2012 makes the SLCM the leading mode over the past two decades. variability sea level anomalies spring western South China Sea 37-1150/P QIU Fuwen 1, FANG Wendong 2, PAN Aiju1, CHA Jing 1, ZHANG Shanwu1, HUANG Jiang （1 Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, China e State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Guangzhou 510301, China） ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0254-4059 2096-5508 1993-5005 2523-3521 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00343-016-5203-1 |