An Inferential Statistical Study on the Climate Characteristics of Tropical Cyclones over the Northwestern Pacific

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Part of the Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research book series (NTHR, volume 40)

Abstract

This chapter presents an inferential statistical study on the climate features of cyclone activities in the Northwestern Pacific (WNP) using data from 2,029 tropical cyclones (TCs) obtained within 60 years (1949–2008). The analysis shows the following results. (1) The annual genesis frequency of TC from 1949–2008 exhibits a statistically significant downward trend. The frequencies of tropical storms, typhoons, and strong typhoons have also declined, although less significantly than that of TCs. The interannual occurrence frequency of TCs has a statistically significant high value from 1960–1975, whereas its value is low from 1990–2008. (2) The highest frequency occurs at 14°–19°N and 115°–120°E within the 5° × 5° area, which is a narrow ocean surface to the west of Luzon Island in the South China Sea. (3) In general, the more southward and eastward the location of the TC genesis is, the stronger the TC is. Comparatively speaking, the effect of longitude on TC intensity is greater than that of latitude. Moreover, the interaction impact on TC intensity exists between latitude and longitude. This study provides new information that can improve the understanding of TC climate features over the WNP.

Keywords

Tropical cyclone Climate feature Analysis of variance Non-parametric test 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the following research projects awarded to DL Tang: (1) National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (31061160190, 40976091, NSFC-RFBR Project-41211120181 of DL Tang and D. Pozdnyakov); (2) Guangdong Sciences Foundation (2010B031900041, 8351030101000002); (3) Innovation Group Program of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography (LTOZZ1201).

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Information College in Guangdong University of Foreign StudiesGuangzhouChina
  2. 2.Research Center for Remote Sensing of Marine Ecology and Environments, State Key Laboratory of Tropical OceanographySouth China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of SciencesGuangzhouChina
  3. 3.Guangdong Research Institute for International StrategiesGuangdong University of Foreign StudiesGuangzhouChina

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