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Intra-seasonal variability of Pacific-origin sea level anomalies around the Philippine Archipelago

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Abstract

Intra-seasonal variability of sea level anomalies (SLAs) originated in the Pacific Ocean around the Philippine Archipelago was investigated using merged altimetry SLA measurements and eddy-resolving ocean model outputs. The results suggest the SLA signals from the tropical North Pacific propagate westward as baroclinic Rossby waves on an intra-seasonal time scale. Upon impinging the east coast of the Philippines, these Rossby wave signals transform into coastal trapped waves (CTWs), propagate clockwise along the coast of the Philippine Archipelago and enter into the eastern South China Sea (SCS) through the Sibutu Passage and Mindoro Strait. The SLA signals, however, cannot propagate anticlockwise and enter into the eastern SCS through the Luzon Strait. The intra-seasonal oceanic wave processes are clearly identified by the eddy-resolving model. The effect of along-shore wind forcing on the SLA signals appears insignificant when compared with the remote signals coming from the interior Pacific. While identified in the model simulation, future observations are needed to verify the intra-seasonal CTWs encircling the Philippine Archipelago.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge AVISO for providing SLA data (http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/en). QuikSCAT data were produced by remote sensing systems and sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ocean Vector Winds Science Team. Data are available at www.remss.com. The OFES simulation was conducted on an earth simulator under the support of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). The QuikSCAT and OFES data used in this study were obtained from the Asia-Pacific Data-Research Center (APDRC), University of Hawaii (http://apdrc.soest.hawaii.edu). This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Number XDA11010103 and XDA11010203) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 41176024 and 41176023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography (LTO), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academic of Science, 164 West Xingang Road, Guangzhou, 510301, China

    Xiao Chen, Xuhua Cheng, Yiquan Qi & Yan Du

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiao Chen

  3. Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Xiao Chen & Bo Qiu

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  1. Xiao Chen
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  2. Bo Qiu
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  4. Yiquan Qi
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  5. Yan Du
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Correspondence to Yan Du.

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Chen, X., Qiu, B., Cheng, X. et al. Intra-seasonal variability of Pacific-origin sea level anomalies around the Philippine Archipelago. J Oceanogr 71, 239–249 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-015-0281-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-015-0281-9

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