Applicability evaluation of ERA5 wind and wave reanalysis data in the South China Sea

Wind and wave data are essential in climatological and engineering design applications.In this study,data from 15 buoys located throughout the South China Sea(SCS)were used to evaluate the ERA5 wind and wave data.Applicability assessment are beneficial for gaining insight into the reliability of the ERA5 data in the SCS.The bias range between the ERA5 and observed wind-speed data was-0.78-0.99 m/s.The result indicates that,while the ERA5 wind-speed data underestimation was dominate,the overestimation of such data existed as well.Additionally,the ERA5 data underestimated annual maximum wind-speed by up to 38%,with a correlation coefficient>0.87.The bias between the ERA5 and observed significant wave height(SWH)data varied from-0.24 to 0.28 m.And the ERA5 data showed positive SWH bias,which implied a general underestimation at all locations,except those in the Beibu Gulf and centralwestern SCS,where overestimation was observed.Under extreme conditions,annual maximum SWH in the ERA5 data was underestimated by up to 30%.The correlation coefficients between the ERA5 and observed SWH data at all locations were greater than 0.92,except in the central-western SCS(0.84).The bias between the ERA5 and observed mean wave period(MWP)data varied from-0.74 to 0.57 s.The ERA5 data showed negative MWP biases implying a general overestimation at all locations,except for B1(the Beibu Gulf)and B7(the northeastern SCS),where underestimation was observed.The correlation coefficient between the ERA5 and observed MWP data in the Beibu Gulf was the smallest(0.56),and those of other locations fluctuated within a narrow range from 0.82 to 0.90.The intercomparison indicates that during the analyzed time-span,the ERA5 data generally underestimated wind-speed and SWH,but overestimated MWP.Under non-extreme conditions,the ERA5 wind-speed and SWH data can be used with confidence in most regions of the SCS,except in the central-western SCS.

The effect of Typhoon Kalmaegi on the modal energy and period of internal waves near the Dongsha Islands(South China Sea)

The influence of Typhoon Kalmaegi on internal waves near the Dongsha Islands in the northeastern South China Sea was investigated using mooring observation data.We observed,for the first time,that the phenomenon of regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle of diurnal internal tides(ITs)can be regulated by typhoons.The diurnal ITs lost the regular variation characteristics of the 14-d spring-neap cycle during the typhoon period owing to the weakening of diurnal coherent ITs,represented by O_(1)and K_(1),and the strengthening of diurnal incoherent ITs.Results of quantitative analysis showed that during the pre-typhoon period,timeaveraged modal kinetic energy(sum of Modes 1–5)of near-inertial internal waves(NIWs)and diurnal and semidiurnal ITs were 0.62 kJ/m^(2),5.66 kJ/m^(2),and 1.48 kJ/m^(2),respectively.However,during the typhoon period,the modal kinetic energy of NIWs increased 5.11 times,mainly due to the increase in high-mode kinetic energy.At the same time,the modal kinetic energy of diurnal and semidiurnal ITs was reduced by 68.9%and 20%,respectively,mainly due to the decrease in low-mode kinetic energy.The significantly reduced diurnal ITs during the typhoon period could be due to:(1)strong nonlinear interaction between diurnal ITs and NIWs,and(2)a higher proportion of high-mode diurnal ITs during the typhoon period,leading to more energy dissipation.

Decadal variation and trend of the upper layer salinity in the South China Sea from 1960 to 2010

Ocean salinity is an essential measurable indicator of water cycle and plays a crucial role in regulating ocean and climate change.Using Simple Ocean Data Assimilation(SODA)reanalysis product,substantial decadal variability of the salinity in the upper layer of the South China Sea(SCS)from 1960 to 2010 was examined.Results show that a decadal variation of the upper layer salinity is clear.The upper layer(100 m)waters are found to freshen from 1960,become saltier during 1975 to 1995,and freshen again from 1995 to 2010.The strongest anomalies appear in the northeastern,northern,and northwestern regions in the three periods,respectively.The salinity variation trends become weaker below the upper layer,except the salinifi cation trend in the northern SCS extends to at least 300 m during the salinifi cation period.Diagnosis of the salinity budget over the top 100 m shows that during the fi rst freshening period horizontal advection,vertical advection,and surface freshwater forcing all contribute to salinity freshening,and horizontal advection is relatively larger.The contribution of horizontal advection and surface freshwater forcing to the positive salinity anomaly is comparable,while the vertical advection is the secondary factor in the salinifi cation period.Horizontal advection,especially zonal advection,plays a crucial role during the second freshening period.Moreover,horizontal advection is more important than that in the fi rst freshening period.In addition,the contribution of horizontal advection is mainly in zonal direction controlled by Kuroshio intrusion.Further analysis shows the upper-layer salinity variations have a Pacifi c Decadal Oscillation(PDO)-like signal,with freshening during the negative PDO years,and salinifi cation during the positive PDO years.PDO mainly infl uences the upper-layer salinity changes through both atmospheric bridge and oceanic bridge.

Internal Waves Generated by Tidal Flows over a Triangular Ridge with Critical Slopes

Direct numerical simulations are performed to investigate the generation of internal waves by tide-topography interaction in a lab-scale model.The bottom topography is a triangular ridge with two critical slopes.With increasing tidal forcing,subharmonic instabilities are identified,which cause internal wave beams to become unstable and turbulent.Kinetic energy densities in the upward going beams from the ridge top are stronger than those from the ridge bottom,whereas the reverse is true for the energy flux.This disparity between energy and energy flux is due to the existence of strong pressure disturbances near the ridge bottom.On each side of the critical ridge,there exists an amphidromic point,from which internal wave beams are emitted in opposite directions.The calculated energy conversion rate scales linearly with the square of the forcing amplitude and agrees within 13%of theoretical prediction,even when turbulence occurs.The fraction of radiated baroclinic energy becomes saturated in the range of low excursion parameter considered,which agrees with the behavior in large-scale systems wherein mixing parameterizations must be used.The present work enriches the studies on the generation of internal waves over a critical triangular ridge.

Distributional characteristics of grain sizes of surface sediments in the Zhujiang River Estuary

Distributions of the parameters of sedimentary grain sizes and their correlations were studied to trace the sources of silts and their movement trends in the Zhujiang River Estuary based on the analyses of grain sizes from more than 1080 sedimentary samples. The distributions of the median diameter, public value, quartile deviation, and skewness of sediments were complex in the Zhuiiang River Estuary mainly because of the impact of the matter source regions, distances from the source regions, and hydrodynamic conditions, such as waves, tidal currents, and coastal currents. Analyses of the parameters of the grain sizes for the various types of sediments showed that the distributions of the surface sediments in the Zhujiang River Estuary were controlled by many factors. Their matter sources were mainly the sediments discharged from the runoffs and ebb tidal currents, and from the open sea. The sediments mainly moved by suspension movement. The silts formed a large area of sediments with suspended fine silts in the Zhujiang River Estuary by internal adjustment transportation in the area, and moved toward the western coast of the Zhujiang River Estuary under the effect of Coriolis forces and coastal currents.