Abstract
To investigate the annual and interannual variability of ocean surface wind over the South China Sea (SCS), the vector empirical orthogonal function (VEOF) method and the Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) method were employed to analyze a set of combined satellite scatterometer wind data during the period from December 1992 to October 2009. The merged wind data were generated from European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS)-1/2 Scatterometer, NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) and NASA’s Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) wind products. The first VEOF mode corresponds to a winter-summer mode which accounts for 87.3% of the total variance and represents the East Asian monsoon features. The second mode of VEOF corresponds to a spring-autumn oscillation which accounts for 8.3% of the total variance. To analyze the interannual variability, the annual signal was removed from the wind data set and the VEOFs of the residuals were calculated. The temporal mode of the first interannual VEOF is correlated with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) with a four-month lag. The second temporal interannual VEOF mode is correlated with the SOI with no time lag. The time series of the two interannual VEOFs were decomposed using the HHT method and the results also show a correlation between the interannual variability and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bentamy, A., Quilfen, Y., and Flament, P., 2002. Scatterometer wind fields: A new release over the decade 1991–2001. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 28: 431–449.
Chelton, D. B., and Freilich, M. H., 2005. Scatterometer-based assessment of 10-m wind analyses from the ECMWF and NCEP numerical weather prediction models. Monthly Weather Review, 133: 409–429.
Chu, P. C., Lu, S. H., and Liu, W. T., 1999a. Uncertainty of the South China Sea prediction using NSCAT and NCEP winds during tropical storm Ernie 1996. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104(11): 273–289.
Chu, P. C., Edmons, N. L., and Fan, C. W., 1999b. Dynamical mechanisms for the South China Sea seasonal circulation and thermohaline variabilities. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 29: 2971–2989.
Chu, P. C., Veneziano, J. M., and Fan, C. W., 2000. Response of the South China Sea to tropical cyclone Ernie 1996. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105: 13991–14009.
Domrös, M., 1988. The Climate of China. Springer-Verlag, New York, 362pp.
Hardy, D. M., and Walton, J. J., 1978. Principal components analysis of vector wind measurements. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 17: 1153–1162.
Ho, C., Zheng, Z., Lin, C., Kuo, N., and Tsao, C., 2008. Wind field variations in the tropical Pacific Ocean from satellite scatterometer data. Annals of GIS, 14(2): 120–123.
Huang, N. E., Shen, Z., Long, S. T., Wu, M. L., Shih, H. H., Zheng, Q., Yen, N. C., Tung, C. C., and Liu, H. H., 1998. The empirical mode decomposition and the Hilbert spectrum for nonlinear and non-stationary time series analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A, 454: 903–995.
Kelly, K. A., 1988. Comment on’ Empirical orthogonal function analysis of advanced very high resolution radiometer surface temperature patterns in Santa Barbara Channel’ by G. S. E. Lagerloef and R. L. Bernstein. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93: 15753–15754.
Pan, J., Yan, X.-H., Zheng, Q., and Liu, W. T., 2001. Scatterometers observe the variation of the Walker Circulation. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union, 82: 536–537.
Pan, J., Yan, X.-H., Zheng, Q., Liu, W. T., and Klemas, V. V., 2002. Interpretation of scatterometer ocean surface wind vector EOFs over the northwestern Pacific. Remote Sensing of Environment, 84: 53–68.
Qu, T., Kim, Y. Y., Yaremchuk, M., Tozuka, T., Ishida, A., and Yamagata, T., 2004. Can Luzon Strait transport play a role in conveying the impact of ENSO to the South China Sea? Journal of Climate, 17: 3644–3657.
Wang, C., 2002. Atmospheric circulation cells associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation. Journal of Climate, 15: 399–419.
Xu, Q., Lin, H., Li, X., Zuo, J., Zheng, Q., Pichel, W., and Liu, Y., 2010. Assessment of an analytical model for sea surface wind speed retrieval from Spaceborne SAR. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 31(4): 993–1008.
Xu, Q., Zhang, G., Cheng, Y., and Ji, Q., 2011. Wind resource estimation using QuikSCAT ocean surface winds. In: Proceedings of the 21th International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE), 506–510.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, G., Xu, Q., Gong, Z. et al. Annual and interannual variability of scatterometer ocean surface wind over the South China Sea. J. Ocean Univ. China 13, 191–197 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-014-1993-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-014-1993-y