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Surface suspended particulate matter concentration in the Taiwan Strait during summer and winter monsoons

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Abstract

The Taiwan Strait (TS), situated between Taiwan and China, is shallow, relatively turbid, and characterized by strong tidal currents and winter and summer monsoon seasons. The aim of this study was to use images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the Aqua satellite to investigate how local sediment sources in addition to the seasonality in wind, oceanographic currents, and waves influence the suspended particulate matter (SPM) dynamics in the TS. In winter, northeast (NE) winds drive the China Coastal Current southward. Cold water with a high SPM concentration is transported southward into the Strait. After the highest SPM concentration reaches its peak in December and January, the winds weaken and the SPM concentration decreases. During summer, winds are less strong and SPM concentration is lower. Although typhoons typically occur in summer, they generate only a weak signal in the surface SPM concentration data from MODIS because of the low number of cloud-free images during these periods. Typhoons result in a short-term increase in the SPM concentration but do not strongly influence the seasonal values in the satellite-derived SPM concentration maps.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this research is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST105-2221-E-110-002). T.Y. Chou visited RBINS with a 2015 student abroad training fund granted by the Ministry of Education. M. Fettweis visited NSYSU with MOST and NSYSU scholar exchange funds. Part of the ocean seurface current data were retrieved 2015–05-07, from HYCOM https://hycom.org/data/glbu0pt08/expt-19pt1 HYCOM + NCODA Global 2015 1/12° reanalysis (GLBu0.08/expt_19.1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Lien-Hai Road 70, 80424, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Jason C. S. Yu, Tzu-Yin Chou, Hao-Cheng Yu & Peihung Chen

  2. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Gulledelle 100, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium

    Quinten Vanhellemont & Michael Fettweis

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  1. Jason C. S. Yu
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  2. Tzu-Yin Chou
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  3. Hao-Cheng Yu
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  4. Peihung Chen
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  5. Quinten Vanhellemont
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  6. Michael Fettweis
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Correspondence to Jason C. S. Yu.

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Responsible Editor: Joris Vanlede

This article is part of the Topical Collection on the 13th International Conference on Cohesive Sediment Transport in Leuven, Belgium 7–11 September 2015

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Yu, J.C.S., Chou, TY., Yu, HC. et al. Surface suspended particulate matter concentration in the Taiwan Strait during summer and winter monsoons. Ocean Dynamics 66, 1517–1527 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-016-0992-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-016-0992-5

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