Abstract
A method of quantifying the penetration of the Kuroshio into the Luzon Strait is improved with simulated salinity. The new method is applied in an area bounded by 0.6 correlation coefficient contour to the point of 20°N, 118°E which is determined by EOF analysis. The results suggest that the method is suitable for indicating Kuroshio’s intrusion into the South China Sea quantitatively. As an indicator, the Kuroshio penetrating the Luzon index (KLI) reveals obvious annual cycle and weak bi-modality. For annual periods, indexes on the surface and subsurface which point the same events have totally opposite signs due to the winter burst of surface westward current. On long-term period, the surface and subsurface indexes have consistent signs. A subsurface index on 150 m avoiding high frequency signals from the surface can be used for indicating long-term Kuroshio intrusion variation. An anti-phase pattern in wavelet coherence map between KLI and Japan large meander index shows that the Luzon Strait is a “smoother” reducing the variability of the Kuroshio transport changes on long-termperiods.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akitomo K, Awaji T, Imasato N. 1991. Kuroshio path variation south of Japan: 1. Barotropic inflow-outflow model. J Geophys Res, 96(C2): 2549–2560
Akitomo K, Kurogi M. 2001. Path transition of the Kuroshio due to mesoscale eddies: a two-layer, wind-driven experiment. Journal of Oceanography, 57(6): 735–741
Carton J A, Chepurin G, Cao X, et al. 2000. A Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) analysis of the global upper ocean 1950–1995: Part 1. Methodology. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 30: 294–309
Centurioni L R, Niiler P P, Lee D K. 2004. Observations of inflow of Philippine Sea surface water into the South China Sea through the Luzon Strait. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 34(1): 113–121
Farris A, Wimbush M. 1996. Wind-induced Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea. Journal of Oceanography, 52(6): 771–784
Grinsted A, Moore J C, Jevrejeva S. 2004. Application of the cross wavelet transform and wavelet coherence to geophysical time series. Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 11(5): 561–566
Hsueh, Y, Zhong Liejun. 2004. A pressure-driven South China Sea Warm Current. J Geophys Res, 109: C09014
Imawaki S, Uchida H, Ichikawa H, et al. 1997. ASUKA Group (1997): time series of the Kuroshio transport derived from field observations and altimetry data. International WOCE Newsletter, 25: 15–18
Jia Yinglai., Liu Qinyu. 2004. Eddy shedding from the Kuroshio bend at Luzon Strait, Journal of Oceanography, 60(6): 1063–1069
Large W G, Yeager S G. 2009. The global climatology of an interannually varying air-sea flux data set. Climate Dynamics, 33(2): 341–364
Li Li, Wu Boyu. 1989. A Kuroshio loop current in the South China Sea? On circulation of the northeastern South China Sea. Journal of Oceanography: Taiwan Strait (in Chinese), 8(1): 89–95
Maximenko N. 2002. Index and composites of the Kuroshio meander south of Japan. Journal of Oceanography, 58(5): 639–649
Metzger E J, Hurlburt H E. 1996. Coupled dynamics of South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. J Geophys Res, 111(C5): 12331–12352
Metzger E J, Hurlburt H E. 2001. The nondeterministic nature of Kuroshio penetration and eddy shedding in the South China Sea. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 31(7): 1712–1732
Nitani, H. 1972. Beginning of the Kuroshio. In: Stommel H, Yashida K, eds. Kuroshio: Physical Aspects of the Japan Current. Univ of Wash Press, 129–163
Qu Tangdong, Mitsudera H, Yamagata T. 2000. Intrusion of the North Pacific waters into the South China Sea. J Geophys Res, 105(6): 6415–6424
Sheremet V. 2001. Hysteresis of a western boundary current leaping across a gap. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 31(5): 1247–1259
Sheremet V, Kuehl J. 2007. Gap-leaping western boundary current in a circular tank model. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 37: 1488–1495
Taft B. 1972. Characteristics of the flow of the Kuroshio south of Japan. Kuroshio-Its Physical Aspects. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 165–216
Wang J, Chern C S. 1987. The warm-core eddy in the northern South China Sea: I. Preliminary observations on the warm-core eddy. Acta Oceanogr Taiwan, 18: 92–103
Wang Guihua, Chen Dake, Su Jilan. 2007. Winter eddy genesis in the eastern South China Sea due to orographic wind jets. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 38: 726–732
Xue Huijie, Chai Fei, Pettigrew N, et al. 2004. Kuroshio intrusion and the circulation in the South China Sea. J Geophys Res, 109(C2): C02017
Yang Haijun, Liu Qinyu, Liu Zhengyu, et al. 2002. A general circulation model study of the dynamics of the upper ocean circulation of the South China Sea. J Geophys Res, 107(C7): 3085
Yoon J, Yasuda I. 1987. Dynamics of the Kuroshio large meander: twolayer model. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 17(1): 66–81
Yuan Dongliang, Han Weiqing, Hu Dunxin. 2006. Surface Kuroshio path in the Luzon Strait area derived from satellite remote sensing data. J Geophys Res, 111(C11): C11007
Yuan Dongliang, Han Weiqing, Hu Dunxin. 2007. Anti-cyclonic eddies northwest of Luzon in summer-fall observed by satellite altimeters. Geophys Res Lett, 34: L13610
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: The National Basic Research Program of China under contract No. 2012CB417401; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 40890152; the National Science Foundation for Young Scientist of China under contract No. 41006004; and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Data Analysis and Applications, the first institute of oceanography, under contract No. LDAA-2011-03.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, X., Wang, F. & Wan, X. Index of Kuroshio penetrating the Luzon Strait and its preliminary application. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 32, 1–11 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-013-0262-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-013-0262-z