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.

Observation of Currents in the Southern Yellow Sea in the Summers of 2001 and 2003

Long term current observations in the southern Yellow Sea are very scarce because of the intense fishing and trawling activities. Most of the previous studies on tides and circulation were not rigorously validated with direct current measurements. In this study, tidal and sub-tidal currents were examined using current profiles from three bottom-moored Sontek Acoustic Doppler Profilers (ADPs) deployed in the southern Yellow Sea in the summers of 2001 and 2003. The measured current time series were dominated by tidal currents. The maximum velocities were between 40–80 cm s-1 at the mooring stations. The M2 current was the dominant primary tidal constituent, while the MS4 and M4 components produced the most significant shallow water tidal currents with much weaker amplitudes. The measured mean sub-tidal velocities were less than 5 cm s-1. The mean flows in the lower layer implied that an anti-cyclonic circulation pattern might exist in the deeper central Yellow Sea. However, the previously expected cyclonic circulation pattern in the upper layer was not clearly shown by the observations.

Variation of the North Equatorial Current, Mindanao Current, and Kuroshio Current in a High-Resolution Data Assimilation during 2008–2012

Outputs from a high-resolution data assimilation system,the global Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and Navy Coupled Ocean Data Assimilation （HYCOM＋NCODA） 1/12° analysis,were analyzed for the period September 2008 to February 2012.The objectives were to evaluate the performance of the system in simulating ocean circulation in the tropical northwestern Pacific and to examine the seasonal to interannual variations of the western boundary currents.The HYCOM assimilation compares well with altimetry observations and mooring current measurements.The mean structures and standard deviations of velocities of the North Equatorial Current （NEC）,Mindanao Current （MC） and Kuroshio Current （KC） also compare well with previous observations.Seasonal to interannual variations of the NEC transport volume are closely correlated with the MC transport volume,instead of that of the KC.The NEC and MC transport volumes mainly show well-defined annual cycles,with their maxima in spring and minima in fall,and are closely related to the circulation changes in the Mindanao Dome （MD） region.In seasons of transport maxima,the MD region experiences negative SSH anomalies and a cyclonic gyre anomaly,and in seasons of transport minima the situation is reversed.The sea surface NEC bifurcation latitude （NBL） in the HYCOM assimilation also agrees well with altimetry observations.In 2009,the NBL shows an annual cycle similar to previous studies,reaching its southernmost position in summer and its northernmost position in winter.In 2010 and 2011,the NBL variations are dominantly influenced by La Ni（n）a events.The dynamics responsible for the seasonal to interannual variations of the NEC-MC-KC current system are also discussed.

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.

How does the Indian Ocean subtropical dipole trigger the tropical Indian Ocean dipole via the Mascarene high?

The variation in the Indian Ocean is investigated using Hadley center sea surface temperature（SST） data during the period 1958–2010.All the first empirical orthogonal function（EOF） modes of the SST anomalies（SSTA） in different domains represent the basin-wide warming and are closely related to the Pacific El Ni o– Southern Oscillation（ENSO） phenomenon.Further examination suggests that the impact of ENSO on the tropical Indian Ocean is stronger than that on the southern Indian Ocean.The second EOF modes in different domains show different features.It shows a clear east-west SSTA dipole pattern in the tropical Indian Ocean（Indian Ocean dipole,IOD）,and a southwest-northeast SSTA dipole in the southern Indian Ocean（Indian Ocean subtropical dipole,IOSD）.It is further revealed that the IOSD is also the main structure of the second EOF mode on the whole basin-scale,in which the IOD pattern does not appear.A correlation analysis indicates that an IOSD event observed during the austral summer is highly correlated to the IOD event peaking about 9 months later.One of the possible physical mechanisms underlying this highly significant statistical relationship is proposed.The IOSD and the IOD can occur in sequence with the help of the Mascarene high.The SSTA in the southwestern Indian Ocean persists for several seasons after the mature phase of the IOSD event,likely due to the positive wind–evaporation–SST feedback mechanism.The Mascarene high will be weakened or intensified by this SSTA,which can affect the atmosphere in the tropical region by teleconnection.The pressure gradient between the Mascarene high and the monsoon trough in the tropical Indian Ocean increases（decreases）.Hence,an anticyclone（cyclone） circulation appears over the Arabian Sea-India continent.The easterly or westerly anomalies appear in the equatorial Indian Ocean,inducing the onset stage of the IOD.This study shows that the SSTA associated with the IOSD can lead to the onset of IOD with the aid of atmosphere circulation and also explains why some IOD events in the tropical tend to be followed by IOSD in the southern Indian Ocean.

Dynamic features of near-inertial oscillations in the Northwestern Pacific derived from mooring observations from^2015 to 2018

Near-inertial oscillation is an important physical process transferring surface wind energy into deep ocean.We investigated the near-inertial kinetic energy(NIKE)variability using acoustic Doppler current profiler measurements from a mooring array deployed in the tropical western Pacific Ocean along 130°E at 8.5°N,11°N,12.6°N,15°N,and 17.5°N from September 2015 to January 2018.Spatial features,decay timescales,and significant seasonal variability of the observed NIKE were described.At the mooring sites of 17.5°N,15°N,and 12.6°N,the NIKE peaks occurred in boreal autumn and the NIKE troughs were observed in boreal spring.By contrast,the NIKE at 11°N and 8.5°N showed peaks in winter and troughs in summer.Tropical cyclones and strong wind events played an important role in the emergence of high-NIKE events and explained the seasonality and latitudinal characteristics of the observed NIKE.

Intraseasonal variability of the equatorial Pacific Ocean and its relationship with ENSO based on Self-Organizing Maps analysis

We investigated the intraseasonal variability of equatorial Pacific subsurface temperature and its relationship with El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) using Self-Organizing Maps(SOM) analysis.Variation in intraseasonal subsurface temperature is mainly found along the thermocline.The SOM patterns concentrate in basin-wide seesaw or sandwich structures along an east-west axis.Both the seesaw and sandwich SOM patterns oscillate with periods of 55 to 90 days,with the sequence of them showing features of equatorial intraseasonal Kelvin wave,and have marked interannual variations in their occurrence frequencies.Further examination shows that the interannual variability of the SOM patterns is closely related to ENSO;and maxima in composite interannual variability of the SOM patterns are located in the central Pacific during CP El Nino and in the eastern Pacific during EP El Nino.The se results imply that some of the ENSO forcing is manife sted through changes in the occurrence frequency of intraseasonal patterns,in which the change of the intraseasonal Kelvin wave plays an important role.

Instability in boundary layer between the North Equatorial Current and underlying zonal jets based on mooring observations

Instability/stability in the North Equatorial Current(NEC)basin is studied based on data obtained from nine moorings deployed at 8.5°N,10.5°N,11.0°N,12.5°N,13.0°N,15.0°N,15.5°N,17.5°N,and 18.0°N along 130.0°E during cruises in 2015–2017.In low latitudes,the Coriolis parameter and stratifi cation ratio play important roles in NEC stability,whereas velocity shear and the layer depth ratio are important for NEC stability in high latitudes.Beneath the westward NEC,eastward zonal jets occur intermittently centered around 8.5°N,12.5°N,and 17.5°N along 130.0°E.Similar to the NEC,the main body of these zonal jets also deepens with latitude.In the boundary layer comprising the bottom NEC and upper zonal jets,the growth rate of the NEC is attributed not only to velocity shear but also to zonal jet velocity based on the longwave assumption.Based on the shortwave assumption,the growth rate is proportional to zonal jet velocity but has no relationship with velocity shear.Climatologically,the growth rate in the boundary layer is not zero at 8.5°N,12.5°N,and 13.0°N,where the velocity shear and zonal jets are larger than at other stations.The instability also occurs at the time node when the zonal jets are strong enough,although the mean zonal jets may disappear at this station.

Circulation in the western tropical Pacific Ocean and its seasonal variation

An assimilation data set based on the GFDL MOM3 model and the NODC XBT data set is used to examine the circulation in the western tropical Pacific and its seasonal variations. The assimilated and observed velocities and transports of the mean circulation agree well. Transports of the North Equatorial Current (NEC), Mindanao Current (MC), North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) west of 140°E and Kuroshio origin estimated with the assimilation data display the seasonal cycles, roughly strong in boreal spring and weak in autumn, with a little phase difference. The NECC transport also has a semi-annual fluctuation resulting from the phase lag between seasonal cycles of two tropical gyres’ recirculations. Strong in summer during the southeast monsoon period, the seasonal cycle of the Indonesian throughflow (ITF) is somewhat different from those of its upstreams, the MC and New Guinea Coastal Current (NGCC), implying the monsoon’s impact on it.

Interannual variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength based on merged altimeter data

Interannual variability of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) strength is studied in stream-coordinate with twenty-year Absolute Dynamic Topography data from satellite altimetry. The stream-coordinate projection method separates the ACC from adjacent subtropical and subpolar gyres, enabling consideration of the zonal asymmetry of the ACC rather than assuming that the ACC is a purely zonal flow. It is shown that the ACC strength has large interannual variations with two recent peaks around 2000 and 2009. The interannual variability appears mainly in the Indo-Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean and the strongest signal is located south of Australia. The intensification of the westerly wind in 1998 and 2008 appears to cause the strengthening of the ACC via baroclinic processes.

Bifurcation of Pacific North Equatorial Current at the surface

The grid altimetry data between 1993 and 2006 near the Philippines were analyzed by the method of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) to study the variation of bifurcation of the North Equatorial Current at the surface of the Pacific. The relatively short-term signals with periods of about 6 months, 4 months, 3 months and 2 months are found besides seasonal and interannual variations mentioned in previous studies. Local wind stress curl plays an important role in controlling variation of bifurcation latitude except in the interannual timescale. The bifurcation latitude is about 13.3°N in annual mean state and it lies at the northernmost position (14.0°N) in January, at the southernmost position (12.5°N) in July. The amplitude of variation of bifurcation latitude in a year is 1.5°, which can mainly be explained as the contributions of the signals with periods of about 1 year (1.2°) and 0.5 year (0.3°).

Variability of Antarctic Intermediate Water south of Australia and its relationship with frontal waves

A streamfunction EOF method is applied to a time series of hydrographic sections in the Southern Ocean south of Australia to study water mass variations. Results show that there are large thermohaline variations north of the Subantarctic Front (SAF) at 300–1500 dbar level, indicating upwelling and downwelling of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) along isopycnal surfaces. Based on the latest altimeter product, Absolute Dynamic Topography, a mechanism due to frontal wave propagation is proposed to explain this phenomenon, and an index for frontal waves is defined. When the frontal wave is in positive (negative) phase, the SAF flows northeastward (southeastward) with the fresh AAIW downwelling (upwelling). Such mesoscale processes greatly enhance cross-frontal exchanges of water masses. Spectral analysis shows that frontal waves in the Southern Ocean south of Australia are dominated by a period of about 130 days with a phase speed of 4 cm/s and a wavelength of 450 km.