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Identification of different types of Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea

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Abstract

Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) has different forms. In this study, a Kuroshio SCS Index (KSI) is defined using the integral of geostrophic vorticity from 118° to 121° E and from 19° to 23° N. Three typical paths (the looping path, the leaking path, and the leaping path) were identified based on the KSI derived from the weekly satellite Absolute Dynamic Topography from 1993 to 2008. The KSI has a near normal distribution. Using ±1 standard deviation (σ) as the thresholds, the leaking path is the most frequent form with the probability of occurrence at 68.2%, while the probabilities of occurrence for the looping path and the leaping path are 16.4% and 15.4%, respectively. Similar analysis is also conducted on the daily Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) Global Analysis from 2004 to 2008. The results are generally consistent with the KSI analysis of the satellite data. The HYCOM data are further analyzed to illustrate patterns of inflows/outflows and the maximum/minimum salinity as representatives of the subsurface/intermediate waters. The Kuroshio bending and the net inflow through the Luzon Strait reduce from the looping path to the leaking path to the leaping path. However, the Kuroshio subsurface water intrudes farthest into the SCS for the leaking path. Vorticity budget associated with the different intrusion types is then analyzed. The tilting of the relative vorticity, the stretching of the absolute vorticity, and the advection of planetary vorticity are important for the change of vorticity, whereas the baroclinic and frictional contributions are three orders smaller.

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Acknowledgement

The altimeter products were produced by Ssalto/Duacs and distributed by Aviso, with support from Cnes (http://www.aviso.oceanobs.com/duacs/). The 1/4° gridded data were downloaded from ftp.aviso.oceanobs.com/. The 1/12° HYCOM + NCODA Global Analysis were obtained via OPENDAP at http://tds.hycom.org/thredds/dodsC/glb_analysis. This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NECT-07-0781), the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2011CB403500), and NSFC 90711006. The authors also thank Mr. Stephen Cousins at the University of Maine for the help on data processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

    Feng Nan, Huijie Xue, Fei Chai & Lei Shi

  2. College of Physical and Environmental Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

    Feng Nan, Maochong Shi & Peifang Guo

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  1. Feng Nan
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  2. Huijie Xue
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  3. Fei Chai
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  4. Lei Shi
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  5. Maochong Shi
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  6. Peifang Guo
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Correspondence to Feng Nan.

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Responsible Editor: Hua Wang

This article is part of the Topical Collection on 2nd International Workshop on Modelling the Ocean 2010

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Nan, F., Xue, H., Chai, F. et al. Identification of different types of Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea. Ocean Dynamics 61, 1291–1304 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0426-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0426-3

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