Comparison of Different Wind Stress Effects on SST and SSS in the East China Sea Region

Ocean circulations closely associated with the changes of wind system are investigated using a three-dimensional tide-circulated coupling model. Based on the coupling model, we apply different wind datasets, to some extent reflecting wind system variations associated with global climate change, but constant monthly temperature and salinity fields to assess the effect of differing wind strength stresses in the East China Sea region, leading to significant influences on hydrographic fields. In the model based on the Hellman-Rosenstein wind dataset, more distant from the mouth of the Changjiang River (Yangtze River), the Yellow Sea Warm Current strengthens because of the wind stress; weaker wind stresses may reduce the strength of the Yellow Sea Warm Current, resulting in it retreating along its path. The modeled results suggest that there is at least a 1.5°C anomaly in temperature and a 2 psu anomaly in salinity between the Changjiang River mouth and the Korean Peninsula when different wind fields are imposed in the model. The major differences in the sea surface temperature (SST) and the sea surface salinity (SSS) fields usually occur between latitudes 30°N and 35°N, which coincides with the regions having the steepest north-south temperature gradient.

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