Mesoscale eddies in the South China Sea observed with altimeter data

A composite time series (1993–2000) of sea surface height anomaly from several satellites is used to identify eddies in the South China Sea (SCS). The eddy lifetime, radius, strength, and straight‐line travel distance are estimated. Altogether 58 anticyclonic eddies and 28 cyclonic eddies are identified for this period. They are grouped into four geographical zones according to known eddy generation mechanisms, and their statistics are discussed accordingly. Our geographical classification is a useful first step in gaining an overview of their generation.

[1]  J. Wang.  The warm-core eddy in the northern South China Sea, I. Preliminary observations on the warm-core eddy. , 1987 .

[2]  P. Chu,et al.  An airborne expendable bathythermograph survey of the South China Sea, May 1995 , 1998 .

[3]  Lee-Lueng Fu,et al.  Sea surface height variations in the South China Sea from satellite altimetry , 1999 .

[4]  S. Howden,et al.  Mesoscale variability in the South China Sea from the TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry data , 2000 .

[5]  Chung-Ru Ho,et al.  Satellite Observation of Upwelling along the Western Coast of the South China Sea , 2000 .

[6]  Humio Mitsudera,et al.  Intrusion of the North Pacific waters into the South China Sea , 2000 .

[7]  T. Qu,et al.  Upper-Layer Circulation in the South China Sea* , 2000 .

[8]  Cheinway Hwang,et al.  Circulations and eddies over the South China Sea derived from TOPEX/Poseidon altimetry , 2000 .

[9]  H. Hurlburt,et al.  The Nondeterministic Nature of Kuroshio Penetration and Eddy Shedding in the South China Sea , 2001 .

[10]  Dean Roemmich,et al.  Eddy Transport of Heat and Thermocline Waters in the North Pacific: A Key to Interannual/Decadal Climate Variability? , 2001 .

[11]  E. Joseph Metzger,et al.  The importance of high horizontal resolution and accurate coastline geometry in modeling South China Sea Inflow , 2001 .

[12]  Jilan Su,et al.  The numerical study of the South China Sea upper circulation characteristics and its dynamic mechanism, in winter , 2002 .

[13]  Q. Xie,et al.  Seasonal structures of upper layer circulation in the southern South China Sea from in situ observations , 2002 .

[14]  Operational Altimeter Sea Level Products , 2002 .

[15]  Su Jilan,et al.  Overview of the South China Sea circulation and its influence on the coastal physical oceanography outside the Pearl River Estuary , 2004 .