Abstract
Sea surface temperature (SST) data derived from satellite and in situ measurements are used to study the thermal variability in the South China Sea (SCS). Time–frequency–energy distributions, periods of variability, and trends are computed by the Hilbert–Huang transform method. The SST trend from 1982 to 2005 is 0.276°C per decade in the SCS which is higher than 0.144°C per decade in the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP). The warm pool (SST ≥ 28°C) area in the SCS has increased by 0.20 × 106 km2 per decade. The SST and area of the warm pool in the SCS are strongly correlated, respectively, with the SST and area of the WPWP with a time lag of 1 month, suggestive of a strong connection between these two warm pools. Once the annual cycle is eliminated, decadal oscillations dominate the variability of SST and warm pool area in the SCS.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belkin IM (2009) Rapid warming of large marine ecosystems. Prog Oceanogr 81:207–213
Bond NA, Harrison DE (2000) The Pacific decadal oscillation, air-sea interaction and central north Pacific winter atmospheric regimes. Geophys Res Lett 27:731–734
Cane MA (1983) Oceanographic events during El Niño. Science 222:1189–1195
Casey KS, Cornillon P (2001) Global and regional sea surface temperature trends. J Clim 14:3801–3818
Chambers DP, Tapley BD, Stewart RH (1998) Measuring heat storage changes in the equatorial Pacific: a comparison between TOPEX altimetry and tropical atmosphere-ocean buoys. J Geophys Res 103:18591–18597
Ho CR, Yan XH, Zheng Q (1995) Satellite observations of upper-layer variabilities in the western Pacific warm pool. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 76:669–679
Hu J, Kawamura H, Hong H, Qi Y (2000) A review on the currents in the South China Sea: seasonal circulation, South China Sea warm current and Kuroshio intrusion. J Oceanogr 56:607–624
Huang NE, Shen Z, Long SR, Wu MC, Shih EH, Zheng Q, Tung CC, Liu HH (1998) The empirical mode decomposition method and the Hilbert spectrum for non-stationary time series analysis. Proc R Soc Lond A 454:903–995
Lau KM (1997) South China Sea Monsoon Experiment (SCSMEX) observed from satellite. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 78:599–603
Levitus S, Antonov JI, Wang J, Delworth TL, Dixon KW, Broccoli AJ (2001) Anthropogenic warming of Earth’s climate system. Science 292:267–270
Li N, Shang SP, Shang SL, Zhang CY (2007) On the consistency in variations of the South China Sea warm pool as revealed by three sea surface temperature datasets. Remote Sens Environ 109:118–125
Lin CY, Ho CR, Zheng ZW, Kuo NJ (2008) Validation and variation of upper layer thickness in South China Sea from satellite altimeter data. Sensors 8:3802–3818
Liu Q, Jiang X, Xie SP, Liu WT (2004) A gap in the Indo-Pacific warm pool over the South China Sea in boreal winter: seasonal development and interannual variability. J Geophys Res 109:1029–1038
Mantua NJ, Hare SR (2002) The Pacific decadal oscillation. J Oceanogr 58:35–44
Picaut J, Ioualalen M, Menkes C, Delcroix T, McPhaden MJ (1996) Mechanisms of the zonal displacements of the Pacific warm pool. Science 274:1486–1489
Picaut J, Masia F, Penhoat YD (1997) An advective-reflective conceptual model for the oscillatory nature of the ENSO. Science 277:663–666
Qu T, Kim YY, Yaremchuk M, Tozuka T, Ishida A, Yamagata T (2004) Can Luzon Strait transport play a role in conveying the impact of ENSO to the South China Sea? J Clim 17:3644–3657
Reynolds RW, Smith TM (1994) Improved global sea surface temperature analyses using optimum interpolation. J Clim 7:929–948
Wu Z, Huang NE (2009) Ensemble empirical mode decomposition: a noise assisted data analysis method. Adv Adapt Data Anal 1:1–41
Xie SP, Xie Q, Wang D, Liu WT (2003) Summer upwelling in the South China Sea and its role in regional climate variations. J Geophys Res 108:3261. doi:10.1029/2003JC001867
Yan XH, Ho CR, Zheng Q, Klemas V (1992) Temperature and size variabilities of the western Pacific warm pool. Science 258:1643–1645
Zheng ZW, Ho CR, Kuo NJ (2007) The mechanism of weakening of west Luzon eddy during La Niña years. Geophys Res Lett 34:L11604. doi:10.1029/2007GL030058
Acknowledgments
The authors thank three anonymous reviewers for providing very useful comments. We also appreciate the PO.DAAC of JPL/NASA for providing the Reynolds SST, TOPEX/POSEIDON, and Jason-1 altimeter data. This research was support by the National Science Council of Taiwan through NSC 95-2611-M-019-008-MY3 and NSC 98-2611-M019-017-MY3.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lin, CY., Ho, CR., Zheng, Q. et al. Variability of sea surface temperature and warm pool area in the South China Sea and its relationship to the western Pacific warm pool. J Oceanogr 67, 719–724 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0072-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0072-x