Pathways of mesoscale variability in the South China Sea |
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| Authors: | Wei Zhuang Yan Du Dongxiao Wang Qiang Xie Shangping Xie |
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| Institution: | (1) State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Fujian, 361005, China;(2) Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China;(3) Center for Marine Environmental Studies, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-Cho, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan;(4) Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA |
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| Abstract: | The propagation of oceanic mesoscale signals in the South China Sea (SCS) is mapped from satellite altimetric observations
and an eddy-resolving global ocean model by using the maximum cross-correlation (MCC) method. Significant mesoscale signals
propagate along two major bands of high variability. The northern band is located west of the Luzon Strait, characterized
by southwestward eddy propagation. Although eddies are the most active in winter, their southwestward migrations, steered
by bathymetry, occur throughout the year. Advection by the mean flow plays a secondary role in modulating the propagating
speed. The southern eddy band lies in the southwest part of the SCS deep basin and is oriented in an approximately meridional
direction. Mesoscale variability propagates southward along the band in autumn. This southward eddy pathway could not be explained
by mean flow advection and is likely related to eddy detachments from the western boundary current due to nonlinear effects.
Our mapping of eddy propagation velocities provides important information for further understanding eddy dynamics in the SCS. |
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