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Assessment of intraseasonal variabilities in China Ocean Reanalysis (CORA)

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Abstract

A regional reanalysis product—China Ocean Reanalysis (CORA)—has been developed for the China’s seas and the adjacent areas. In this study, the intraseasonal variabilities (ISVs) in CORA are assessed by comparing with observations and two other reanalysis products (ECCO2 and SODA). CORA shows a better performance in capturing the intraseasonal sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and the intraseasonal sea surface heights (SSHs) than ECCO2 and SODA do, probably due to its high resolution, stronger response to the intraseasonal forcing in the atmosphere (especially the Madden-Julian Oscillation), and more available regional data for assimilation. But at the subsurface, the ISVs in CORA are likely to be weaker than reality, which is probably attributed to rare observational data for assimilation and weak diapycnal eddy diffusivity in the CORA model. According to the comparison results, CORA is a good choice for the study related to variabilities at the surface, but cares have to be taken for the study focusing on the subsurface processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coastal Disaster and Defence of Ministry of Education, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    Min Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Lei Zhou, Lianghong Jiang & Xiangming Zhang

  3. Key Laboratory of Marine Environment Information Technology, National Marine Data and Information Service, State Oceanic Administration, Tianjin, 300171, China

    Hongli Fu

Authors
  1. Min Zhang
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  2. Lei Zhou
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  3. Hongli Fu
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  4. Lianghong Jiang
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  5. Xiangming Zhang
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Correspondence to Lei Zhou.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41206178, 41376034, 41276018 and 41321004; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under contract No. 2014B30514; the open project supplied by the Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Information Technology, National Marine Data and Information Service, State Oceanic Administration: Effectiveness on the intraseasonal scale in CORA (2015–2016); the Predictability of Ocean Dynamical System Project under Contract No. 151053.

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Zhang, M., Zhou, L., Fu, H. et al. Assessment of intraseasonal variabilities in China Ocean Reanalysis (CORA). Acta Oceanol. Sin. 35, 90–101 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0820-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-016-0820-2

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