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Upper ocean response to typhoon Kujira (2015) in the South China Sea by multiple means of observation

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Abstract

The impact of typhoon Kujira (2015) on the ocean environment around Yongxing Island in the South China Sea was observed using multiple-satellite sensors and on-site data. A subsurface buoy and Agro float were located to the left and lower right of the track of the typhoon. Satellite observations revealed sea surface cooling of up to 2.5°C, a maximum decrease in sea surface salinity of 2 in the main study area because of heavy rain, and increases in the chlorophyll concentration induced by the slow-moving typhoon with a maximum observed instantaneous wind speed of 35.1 m/s. The sea surface temperature to the right of the typhoon track changed more than that on the left owing to a right bias of the typhoon associated with coupling of the typhoon with wind stress on the sea surface. In the ocean interior, there was obvious downwelling at 24.7 m and upwelling at a depth of 35.7 m with the vertical entrainment and agitation of the typhoon, and the effects extended to different depths of up to more than 1 000 m. When the typhoon passed through the main study area, the maximum flow velocity change at depths of 51 and 660 m was about 0.44 and 0.04 m/s, respectively. The typhoon affected the flow field to a depth of 660 m as it formed and decayed in 11 h, moved at an average speed of 60 m/h, and affected the sea surface over a range exceeding 700 km as it moved slowly and stayed at sea for 2 d. Vertical entrainment and agitation generated by the typhoon, as well as rainfall, cooled the sea surface. This inhibited the strengthening of the typhoon, but the energy transmitted to the ocean led to divergence-convergence flow from a shallow to deep layer.

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Data Availability Statement

Data available on request from the authors.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology for providing observation data from the weather station on Yongxing Island, and QI Yiquan of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology for providing the moored ADCP data. Helpful advice from Dr. LI Xiaofeng is also greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yantai, 264003, China

    Jie Guo, Tianlong Zhang & Chenqi Xu

  2. Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai, 264003, China

    Jie Guo

  3. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, CAS, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Jie Guo

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Tianlong Zhang & Chenqi Xu

  5. Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, CAS, Sanya, 572000, China

    Qiang Xie

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  1. Jie Guo
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  2. Tianlong Zhang
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Correspondence to Jie Guo.

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41576032, 41176160), the International Cooperation, CAS, Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Key Projects (No. 133337KYSB20160002), and the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFC1405600)

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Guo, J., Zhang, T., Xu, C. et al. Upper ocean response to typhoon Kujira (2015) in the South China Sea by multiple means of observation. J. Ocean. Limnol. 38, 314–333 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-019-9059-z

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