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Satellite altimeter observations of nonlinear Rossby eddy–Kuroshio interaction at the Luzon Strait

  • Special Section: Original Article
  • Regional Environmental Oceanography in the South China Sea and Its Adjacent Areas (REO-SCS): I
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Abstract

Satellite altimeter sea level data from 1993 to 2008 are used to analyze the interaction of nonlinear Rossby eddies with the Kuroshio at the Luzon Strait (LS). The sea level anomaly data show that the west Pacific (WP) is a source of nonlinear Rossby eddies, and the South China Sea (SCS) is a sink. The LS serves as a gateway between the two. The scale analysis indicates that eddies with a radius larger than 150 km are strong enough to significantly alter the Kuroshio and are able to modify the local circulation pattern. Statistical analysis indicates that the probability for eddies to penetrate through the Kuroshio may reach at least 60%. A case study of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy passing through the LS in June–July 2004 indicates that the Kuroshio behaves as an unsteady flow with its stream path frequently modified, in a way of cutting off, meandering and branching during its interaction with the eddy. We therefore suggest that nonlinear Rossby eddies may play a significant role in modification of the local circulation system near the LS and in exchanges of the mass, momentum and energy between the WP and the SCS.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the United States of America National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Ocean Remote Sensing Funding Program 05-01-11-000 (for Zheng and Tai), partially by the United States of America National Science Foundation Program AGS-1061998 (for Zheng and Zhang), National Natural Science Foundation of China through project 40976013 and the National Basic Research Program of China through projects of 2007CB411803 and 2009CB421208 (for Hu and Lin). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Quanan Zheng

  2. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, 5200 Auth Road, Camp Springs, MD, 20746, USA

    Chang-Kuo Tai

  3. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Oceanography and Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China

    Jianyu Hu & Hongyang Lin

  4. Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Rong-Hua Zhang

  5. Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan

    Feng-Chun Su

  6. Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiaofeng Yang

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  1. Quanan Zheng
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  2. Chang-Kuo Tai
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  3. Jianyu Hu
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Correspondence to Quanan Zheng.

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Zheng, Q., Tai, CK., Hu, J. et al. Satellite altimeter observations of nonlinear Rossby eddy–Kuroshio interaction at the Luzon Strait. J Oceanogr 67, 365–376 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0035-2

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