Interannual to decadal variation of spring sea level anomaly in the western South China Sea -- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2017,35(1):79-88

	Cite this paper:
	QIU Fuwen, FANG Wendong, PAN Aijun, CHA Jing, ZHANG Shanwu, HUANG Jiang. Interannual to decadal variation of spring sea level anomaly in the western South China Sea[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2017, 35(1): 79-88

Interannual to decadal variation of spring sea level anomaly in the western South China Sea

QIU Fuwen¹, FANG Wendong², PAN Aijun¹, CHA Jing¹, ZHANG Shanwu¹, HUANG Jiang¹

1 Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, China;
2 State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China

Abstract:

Satellite observations of sea level anomalies (SLA) from January 1993 to December 2012 are used to investigate the interannual to decadal changes of the boreal spring high SLA in the western South China Sea (SCS) using the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) method. We find that the SLA variability has two dominant modes. The Sea Level Changing Mode (SLCM) occurs mainly during La Niña years, with high SLA extension from west of Luzon to the eastern coast of Vietnam along the central basin of the SCS, and is likely induced by the increment of the ocean heat content. The Anticyclonic Eddy Mode (AEM) occurs mainly during El Niño years and appears to be triggered by the negative wind curl anomalies within the central SCS. In addition, the spring high SLA in the western SCS experienced a quasi-decadal change during 1993-2012; in other words, the AEM predominated during 1993-1998 and 2002-2005, while the La Niña-related SLCM prevailed during 1999-2001 and 2006-2012. Moreover, we suggest that the accelerated sea level rise in the SCS during 2005-2012 makes the SLCM the leading mode over the past two decades.

Key words: variability|sea level anomalies|spring|western South China Sea

Received: 2015-08-17 Revised: 2015-09-28

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Articles by FANG Wendong

Articles by PAN Aijun

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Articles by HUANG Jiang

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