Abstract
Using AVISO satellite altimeter observations during 1993–2015 and a manual eddy detection method, a total of 276 anticyclonic rings and 242 cyclonic rings shed from the Kuroshio Extension (KE) were identified, and their three-dimensional (3D) anomaly structures were further reconstructd based on the Argo float data and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) cruise and buoy data through an interpolation method. It is found that the cyclonic (anticyclonic) rings presented consistent negative (positive) anomalies of potential temperature; meanwhile the relevant maximum anomaly center became increasingly shallow for the cyclonic rings whereas it went deeper for the anticyclonic rings as the potential temperature anomaly decreased from the west to the east. The above deepening or shoaling trend is associated with the zonal change of the depth of the main thermocline. Moreover, the composite cold ring between 140° and 150°E was found to exhibit a double-core vertical structure due to the existence of mode water with low potential vorticity. Specifically, a relatively large negative (positive) salinity anomaly and a small positive (negative) one appeared for the composite cyclonic (anticyclonic) ring at the depth above and below 600 m, respectively. The underlying driving force for the temperature and salinity anomaly of the composite rings was also attempted, which varies depending on the intensity of the background current and the temperature and salinity fields in different areas of the KE region, and the rings’ influences on the temperature and salinity could reach deeper than 1 000 m on average.
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Acknowledgements
The altimeter products are produced by the Ssalto/Duacs and distributed by the AVISO, with support from the CNES. The floats data were collected and made freely available by the International Argo Program and the national programs that contribute to it (http://www.argo.ucsd.edu). The Argo Program is part of the Global Ocean Observing System. The cruise CTD profiles were provided by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). (http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/darwin/datasearch/)
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Foundation item: The National Key Research and Development Program of China under contract No. 2016YFC1402607; Scientific Research Foundation of Third Institude of Oceanography, Ministry of Nature Resources under contract Nos 2017012 and 2018001; Global Change and Air-Sea Interaction Program under contract Nos GASI-IPOVAI-02 and GASI-IPOVAI-03.
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Ding, Y., Jing, C. Three-dimensional thermohaline anomaly structures of rings in the Kuroshio Extension region. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 39, 25–35 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1559-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-020-1559-3